


Carly's Sheldon

by Ashleigh (LunaNomea), LunaNomea



Series: The Big Bang Female Revelation [1]
Category: Big Bang Theory
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2012-07-22
Updated: 2012-07-22
Packaged: 2017-11-18 17:54:12
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 32,963
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/563789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaNomea/pseuds/Ashleigh, https://archiveofourown.org/users/LunaNomea/pseuds/LunaNomea
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>A librarian moves into the apartment building, two levels below Sheldon, Leonard, and Penny. After running into Sheldon and then Penny in the laundry room one night, she gets invited to meet the gang. She ends up getting close to Sheldon and soon romance blossoms in the only way Carly and Sheldon know how.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Laundry Night

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own anything you recognize---If the characters are AU at any given time, please forgive me.

A discovery is like falling in love and reaching the top of a mountain after a hard climb all in one, an ecstasy not induced by drugs but by the revelation of a face of nature that no one has seen before and that often turns out to be more subtle and wonderful than anyone had imagined.

Chapter 1 Laundry Night

Carly Bennet had moved into a new apartment building just a few weeks ago. She had finally decided it was time to obtain a place of her own. She loved her Grandmother of course, but she was twenty-seven. Most people her age were married, had an actual house of their own, and were probably having kids. Carly, however, had been living with her Grandmother since she was five, after her parents had been killed in a house fire. The fact that this elderly lady had taken her in when she had no where else to go, made Carly feel emotionally obligated to stay and return the favor. But her Grandmother made it clear she'd be just fine on her own. So Carly reluctantly saved all of her paychecks at the library she was working at and attempted to find a new home. Her Grandmother had found an ad in the newspaper for a lease of an apartment over in Pasadena, which was about thirty minutes from where she lived.

Then, after a couple weeks of moving in, she finally was set up in 2a and had landed a job at the local library in Pasadena. It was what she had gone to school for - to be a librarian. She loved being around books and often enjoyed the scent of them. Her apartment reflected her love of reading material, with many bookcases around with different types of books on diverse subjects.

But what she really loved about the apartment was that it was all hers.

oO0Oo

It was a Saturday night around 8pm and Carly was sorting her clothing. The library closed at seven and she decided to do some much needed laundry. After grabbing some quarters out of her coin jar, she took a hold of a basket filled with light colored clothes and headed down to the laundry room that she had been in only once after she had first moved in.

Carly was humming quietly to herself when she walked through the doorway and didn't even realize that there was someone else in the room, sorting his own laundry into the washer. That was until he turned the washer on and she jumped in surprise at the sudden sound. Her head snapped over to him, no longer humming. He was incredibly tall, very lanky and had short brown hair combed over to one side. His eyes were adverted from hers and she was perceptive enough to see that he was extremely uncomfortable with her watching him.

Carly eyed him for a second, before opening up a washer and placing her clothes inside - conflicted on if she should speak with him or not. Since arriving in Pasadena, she hadn't really talked to anyone outside of work. Making friends had never been her strong suit. When she saw him start to leave from the corner of her eye, she hastily spun around.

"Hi!" she said but then regretted it after seeing him jump in surprise and turn to face her in horror. Maybe she shouldn't have been so loud and sudden.

She felt her face heat a little, but smiled apologetically at him. "Sorry. I'm Carly, I live in 2a. I haven't met anyone in the building and I figured I would introduce myself," she said awkwardly.

He stared at her for a long time and she began to wonder if he was deaf, but then he finally spoke. "Great."

And then he disappeared with his laundry basket in his arms.

Carly was left staring at the spot where he had been standing, bewildered. She wasn't exactly sure how to process what had just happened but she decided that he hadn't been comfortable in the first place; or maybe she just wasn't friendship material.

Dejectedly, she returned to her laundry to place the quarters in the machine and turn it on. Soon after, she heard footsteps and she turned around quickly, thinking it was the man again but was disappointed. Well not necessarily disappointed, but it still wasn't him.

It was a woman this time - tanned, blond, and beautiful. She was taller than Carly and she seemed surprised to see her. "Oh hello," she said, a grin spreading across her face. "You must be the one who moved into 2a. I'm Penny," she stated, balancing her laundry basket on one hip to outstretch a hand to Carly.

Carly brightened with optimism and took it as they shook. "I'm Carly."

"I live up in 4b, come over anytime if you need anything." She said while walking over to the dryers and taking clothes out of it.

Carly appreciated Penny's offer, deciding she was a very nice woman. Maybe making friends wasn't as hard as she had thought? "Thanks. That's very kind of you," she replied.

Penny stood with her basket full of clothes and turned around to face Carly. "Speaking of which, me and some friends that live in the apartment across the hall from my apartment are hanging out and eating Indian food. Would you like to join us?"

Carly's heart did a flip at the offer. No one had ever invited over to hang out with them before. Looking at Penny's kind and waiting face, she came to her decision rather quickly.

"Sure! That would be great," Carly said breathlessly, holding onto her basket.

Penny brightened as well. "Cool! It will be nice having another girl around here, well besides Bernadette but she almost never leaves her boyfriend's side," Penny stated, as Carly followed her out of the room and up the stairs.

oO0Oo

"Hey guys, this is Carly. She is the one who moved into 2a," Penny introduced her to group around the coffee table, before closing the door behind them both.

Carly smiled politely at them all, feeling apprehensive at everyone staring at her. "Hi," she said, her eyes looking around at the faces and then coming to a stop on the man sitting on the left of the couch, staring back at her. "Oh, hey! You're that guy that was just down at the laundry room with me," she pointed out in recognition, causing the others to look from her to the man in curiosity.

"That's because it's laundry night," he said smartly and then looked down at his food as he spooned it into his mouth.

"That's Sheldon," Penny said with a roll of her green eyes, gesturing to him as he tried to ignore them by watching the TV.

Carly nodded and smiled, wondering why Penny had rolled her eyes at him. "And that is Leonard, his roommate," Penny pointed to the short man in the large armchair next to the couch.

Leonard smiled shyly at her and Carly grinned with a nod to him. He was cute; dark hair and dark framed glasses.

"And that is Howard and his girlfriend Bernadette," Penny said, pointing to them on the other side of the couch and Carly looked over at them with a nod and a smile. Howard was short and very skinny with dark hair as his girlfriend was a little shorter than him and had pretty blond curls and short bangs hovering over her glasses.

"And last but not least, Raj. And just a heads up, he can't talk to women unless he drinks alcohol," Penny replied with a shrug over at a dark skinned man with black hair, sitting next to Howard and Bernadette in a computer chair. He had been looking at Carly before but when her eyes landed on him, he looked away subtly.

"Nice to meet all of you," Carly said, looking around at them all again before Penny led her over to the kitchenette and they both took a hold of the chairs at the island and sat them down next to each other by Leonard.

"Penny we don't have enough for her," Leonard said hastily as she sat down and Penny waved him off.

"We can share, can't we?" she asked Carly who nodded with an appreciative smile. She didn't eat much anyways.

Penny split a carton up and soon they were all eating, the TV displaying some kind of sci-fi movie. It was quiet for a moment but then Bernadette spoke up, "So Carly, what do you do for a living?" she asked, her voice was sweet and cute.

Carly finished her mouthful of food and then smiled to her, "I'm a librarian."

The others smiled and nodded in approval but Sheldon rolled his eyes in exasperation. "Oh, dear lord."

Carly frowned and turned to him, not understanding his negative outburst at her occupation. "What?"

Sheldon finally looked away from the TV, glancing at the others as they too looked at him, but with annoyance. He finally looked to Carly in defeat. "Oh it's nothing. We just have another person highly uneducated in the room. First it was Howard and then it was Penny. God Leonard, why didn't you just succumb to anti-socialism?"

Carly was taken aback, a bright blush upon her cheeks asher mind began spinning with the words he had just said. He had just insulted her and called her stupid.

"Because if I had, then I would be insane like you," Leonard replied flatly. "And don't insult our guest. That's rude."

Carly appreciated Leonard standing up for her but she frowned down at her hands for the rest of the evening. The others chatted with each other but she didn't really pay attention. Sheldon spoke up a few times to put his two senses in but she was too busy stewing on what he had said.

When Penny and Carly left for the night after saying goodbye to the others, the blond turned to her new friend with apprehension. "Don't let Sheldon's comment bother you. He has said that about me since I moved in a few years ago. He isn't good with people and he has an ego the size of the universe."

Carly smiled slightly, appreciating Penny trying to make her feel better. And she did feel a little better. "Thanks Penny. I guess I was just caught off guard by his words," she said with a shrug.

Penny smiled, placing her hand on Carly's shoulder and eyeing her face carefully. "You're a Cancer, aren't you?"

Carly widened her eyes in surprise and grinned. "How did you know?"

"I am great with astrology," she said proudly, her arms crossing over her chest.

"I agree," Carly said with a short laugh. "Thanks so much for inviting me. Your friends are very nice."

Penny shrugged dismissively. "Well sometimes," She laughed. "You should join us tomorrow too. We usually have dinner together almost every night."

"Great! Well I best be off, I need to go switch the clothes around downstairs."

Penny nodded but stopped Carly from walking down the stairs. "Oh for heads up, Sheldon will be finishing his laundry tonight so if you bump into him, don't let him bother you. I've found if you stand your ground with him, he's easier to deal with."

Carly thanked Penny before they departed from each other and Carly was soon in the laundry room with a new load of laundry and was busy placing her wet clothes into the dryer.

"Carly."

Carly turned around at the sound of her voice and was shocked to see Sheldon standing uncomfortably in front of the washers, holding a laundry basket. She hadn't expected to see him so soon after leaving his apartment.

She stood up straight after closing the dryer door, looking at him warily. "Yes, Sheldon?" She asked, trying to remain polite even though his insult was still fresh in her mind.

Sheldon took a deep breath before speaking, as if forcing himself to do this. "It has come to my attention that what I said to you was rude and uncalled for."

Carly's eyebrows shot up at his words, surprised by his attempted apology. But Sheldon spoke no more and he continued to look at her awkwardly as his eyes glanced to the floor repeatedly. Carly began to think that was his way of saying sorry. It must be uncomfortable for him to actually say the words.

Carly smiled suddenly, but remembered what Penny had told her. Be firm. "Thank you, Sheldon. Please don't insult my intelligence again."

Sheldon's eyebrow raised and he took a step towards her. "I was merely pointing out the fact that you weren't educated enough, not that you were stupid."

Carly's shoulders slumped a little, realizing she had somehow misinterpreted his words. "Okay, that is true. But it felt that way."

Sheldon stared at her for a moment and she began to feel uneasy, she shifted. "What?"

"I am just trying to comprehend how you could have took that impression when I didn't say anything whatsoever about your IQ," he stated, the wheels in his head still apparent on his face. "Although I am most positive your IQ doesn't match mine," he added as an after thought.

Carly then blushed, glancing down for a second. "I am a sensitive person, I guess."

Sheldon continued to look at her for another moment, his face appearing confused before he turned to his washer and began to retrieve his clothes to place in the dryer.

Carly watched him before suddenly becoming aware that she was staring and she turned around, spotting superman underwear in his hands. She bit her lip to stop from giggling and somewhere inside her, butterflies fluttered at the thought of him wearing them. Someone such as him owning such a thing was adorable.

She pretended to be busy with her clothes then, tilting her head as she tried to think of something to say. "So, what do you do?"

She heard him approach the dryers and she glanced up at him, his face now proud at what he was about to say. "I'm a theoretical physicist over at Caltech University."

Carly gaped at his words and she widened her eyes at him. "Wow, that is impressive."

He smirked, "I know."

She giggled slightly at that and turned the dryer on as he threw his clothes in his own dryer.

"Well I will see you tomorrow then," Carly said as she moved towards the door, basket in hand.

Sheldon turned around hastily, "What do you mean?'

Carly bit her bottom lip nervously, turning around to face him again. "Penny invited me over for dinner again. I hope that is all right?"

Sheldon thought for a moment before he nodded in decision. "Okay, that's fine. We play Halo 3 afterwards."

She frowned at him with confusion, "Halo? I am guessing it's some kind of game?"

Sheldon looked flabbergasted for a second but then composed himself. "Well not just a game. A video game that allows you to shoot and blow up alien life forms."

Carly then nodded. "Cool," she finally said. "Well I hope you win."

Sheldon scoffed at that, following her out of the room after turning his dryer on. "Like you will see tomorrow night, I always do."

Carly grinned as they walked up the stairs together. "I look forward to seeing that."

Sheldon's lips curved upwards into a smile. "You should. The other guys think that they have a chance, but if they had listened to me in the first place, they'd realize you need precision and strategy. They always lose to me."

Carly nodded with a smile, having absolutely no idea what Halo was, but relieved that they were no longer on awkward grounds. They made it to the first landing and were then moving up the next flight of stairs.

"You seem like you have it figured out, perhaps they should listen to you more often."

Sheldon nodded quickly with agreement. "Indeed they should."

They paused on the second landing where Carly's apartment was. "Hey, you should play with us. You could be on my team and I could show you how to play the right way. If there was someone else that knew my strategy then no one else could take us."

Carly was surprised at the offer and looked up at him with a smile. "Well I have never played a video game before, but I could at least try."

Sheldon shifted in sudden excitement and he smiled at her. "Great! I will see you tomorrow then."

Carly grinned, admiring his smile. "All right, see you too Sheldon." And then she watched him nod to her before disappearing up the steps. Carly practically squealed in delight. She was finally making friends.

oO0Oo

Sheldon entered his apartment and quickly walked through the living room, glancing at Leonard who was at his computer.

"How did it go?" Leonard asked Sheldon, making the taller man stop in mid step and turn around with a slight smile.

"Great! And she is going to be playing on my team tomorrow when we play Halo," Sheldon said, as if warning him of his future loss.

Leonard raised an eyebrow. "She plays Halo?"

Sheldon waved him off. "Of course not! Someone that attractive can't possibly know how to play Halo. But I am going to teach her everything I know. You all won't stand a chance."

Leonard hadn't heard anything after Sheldon had admitted Carly was attractive. "Y-you think Carly is att-attractive?" he stuttered, his eyes blinked repeatedly - trying to process what was just said.

Sheldon stopped and stared at Leonard for a moment, replaying his words back to himself. Yes, he had said that…. hm. "She has nice skin," he answered simply.

Leonard gave out a short laugh. "Skin?" he asked in growing curiosity, standing and walking over to Sheldon.

Sheldon shrugged, as if it were no big deal, but narrowed his eyes at Leonard's smirk. "She seems to take good care of herself hygienically and she is in no way repulsing."

Leonard was now full out grinning. "Sheldon, do you like her?"

Sheldon stared at him, not really understanding what his roommate was getting at. "I don't not like her."

"No I mean do you like her, like her?" Leonard pressed, starting to get antsy. He wanted to know what was going on in his roommate's head.

Sheldon was becoming exasperated. "I don't understand what you are getting at."

Leonard rolled his eyes and let out a breath. "Sheldon, I mean do you find her sexually attractive. Would you consider taking her out on a date or something?"

Sheldon took a step back, his eyes widening and his lips parting. He was about to say of course not, but then he started thinking of Carly's smile and her soft looking brown hair that hung around her pale shoulders. Her eyes were a bright blue that reminded him of the ocean. And she really did have nice skin. It was porcelain looking almost even though she had a couple blemishes on her cheeks. He admired the way she didn't try to cover them up with make up like Penny did. She looked natural. And that was appealing to him.

"Sheldon?"

Leonard calling him back to reality made him realize he had zoned out while thinking about Carly.

"Sheldon? I am sorry; I didn't mean to make you go into panic speechless mode…"

Sheldon collected himself quickly and frowned at Leonard. "Don't be absurd." And then spun on his heel, heading for his bedroom.


	2. Nice Skin?

Chapter 2: Nice Skin

It had been two whole weeks since Carly met everyone and they all were getting to know each other as well as becoming fast friends. Carly spent more of her time with Penny, as they seemed to click the easiest. Penny and she had gone out shopping at one point and Carly ended up buying some tops she would have never considered had she been by herself.

Leonard and Penny had also gotten together. Carly had heard of their past get togethers, and still found it to be an adorable pairing. Bernadette did hang out with Howard more often than not, but she had spent time together with Penny and Carly as well. Raj still didn't talk to her and she wished she could help him feel more comfortable.

And then there was Sheldon. He had taught her how to play Halo 3 and just as he had said, they won each game, much to the dismay of the other players. Since Carly spent most of her nights with them, she was becoming used to spending time with Sheldon. They did their laundry together each Saturday night; both enjoying each other's company. Sheldon would speak about nonsense things and Carly was surprised to find that she was learning a lot by just being around him. However, some of the time though she would just smile and agree with what he said, not at all understanding what he was saying when he began talking about science.

Carly soon saw the vulnerability in Sheldon and how he reacted towards others. He didn't understand things out of his comfort zone and he would come off as a jerk, but Carly knew that he wasn't. The others didn't seem to understand that - instead, misinterpreting his words like she had to begin with and mocking him.

She found he was quite funny as well, if you understood his humor. It also didn't go unnoticed by her that he was handsome. His smile was adorable and he got excited over the silliest things. There was a twinkle in his light blue eyes whenever he was about to speak about something he knew or found interesting. And Carly couldn't help but find that his choice in t-shirts was endearing.

oO0Oo

It was a Tuesday night and the gang was all around a table at the Cheesecake Factory, where Bernadette and Penny worked. Penny chose to be their waitress and Bernadette had the night off so she was sitting next to Howard. Carly found herself sitting in-between Leonard and Sheldon, so she couldn't have been happier.

When they had all got their food and began eating, Leonard spoke up. "So I was over at the comic book store earlier today and Stewart said that he would give us a discount on Comic Con tickets. Isn't that awesome?"

Howard and Raj grinned and were chatting to Leonard excitedly, but Sheldon interjected. Like usual. "Hold on! You mean you went to the comic book store without me?" he looked completely appalled at Leonard.

Leonard shrugged uncomfortably under his roomemate's gaze. "Yeah… I needed to go pick up my Ultimate Spiderman book before someone else took it."

"That's why they have subscriptions, Leonard. How many times have I told you? That way on new comic book night Wednesday, we all can go pick up all our new ones at the same time since Stewart had put them back for us," Sheldon explained.

"That is true, Leonard. Raj and I have had subscriptions for a while now," Howard said, raising his eyebrows up at his friend from across the table. Raj nodded.

"I have been meaning to, I just keep forgetting when I go in there," Leonard explained, shifting in his seat.

Sheldon shrugged in hopeless defeat. "Well if you keep forgetting, then you will be out of luck and new comic book-less."

Leonard glared up at Sheldon but Sheldon was on a new subject now and had turned to Carly, who had been eating uncomfortably in between Leonard and Sheldon.

"Carly," Sheldon said suddenly, making her look up at him and swallow her mouthful of food. "How would you like to join us at the comic book store tomorrow night?"

Carly's eyebrows rose in surprise and the others leaned in with curiosity at the two. Even Penny stopped cleaning the table off next to them to listen in.

Carly tilted her head, thinking. "Well I get off work at 6 tomorrow night, so I am sure if my schedule coincides with yours I could go," she said with a smile up at him, ignoring the stares from the rest of the table.

Sheldon smiled back, "Great. We go at seven, Leonard can drive us."

Carly remembered the arguement between the roommates the other day, after Sheldon had practically demanded Leonard take him to the train store. "I could drive," she suggested politely.

Sheldon waved her off. "Oh don't worry, we can all carpool."

Leonard would have normally been annoyed with Sheldon for assuming he'd drive, but because it sounded as if Sheldon was asking Carly out... in a way, he said nothing and was silent with anticipation.

Carly nodded then and smiled happily. "Oh okay, cool. I'll come over to your apartment after I get home from work and we can all leave then."

Sheldon nodded and went back to his burger. The stares immediately adverted from the two and Carly stood.

"I'll be back; I need to use the restroom," she explained.

"I'll come with you," Bernadette smiled up at her and the women walked away from the table.

oO0Oo

Howard watched his girlfriend leave with Carly and then shook his head, looking back at his friends. "I will never understand why women go to the bathroom in packs."

Raj raised his eyebrows and smiled. "Well, in their defense, it can be quite a social event."

The guys all looked up at himin annoyance, causing Raj to eat his food uncomfortably while avoiding their eyes. It didn't last long though because Leonard rounded in on Sheldon, making Raj and Howard look up at them as well.

"Sheldon, why did you ask Carly to come with us to the comic book store tomorrow?"

Sheldon frowned, glancing up in thought before looking down at Leonard. "I don't understand. I thought you liked Carly."

Leonard shook his head. "Of course I do. I don't care if she comes; I am just wondering why you decided to ask her."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows, leaning back in his chair to ponder Leonard's words. He was silent for a moment before explaining slowly. "Well, she likes books and comic books are a part of literature. I thought she might enjoy herself there."

Howard huffed in frustration. Sheldon wasn't answering them the way they wanted him to. "Sheldon. Are you sure there isn't another reason why you asked her to come with us?" He looked up at Sheldon from underneath his eyebrows, trying to make the man see what he was trying to say.

Sheldon stared blankly at Howard, trying to grasp what Howard was going for. But then he gave up. "I don't understand. Why are you all interested as to why I asked her to go? Was it supposed to be a just guy's hang out day tomorrow and I wasn't aware of it?"

The guys rolled their eyes and then Raj gave it a try. "Sheldon, let me ask you something. When you look at Carly, do you think she is attractive? And if so, is that why you asked her to come?"

Sheldon opened his mouth to speak but Leonard cut in. "I already tried that Raj, he just told me she had nice skin."

Howard laughed at that. "Skin? Well… I suppose that is a step forward on the Sheldon's asexual record."

Sheldon glowered at them. "I'm not asexual. I just haven't felt the need to become tied down by someone who is cranky once a month, demands emotional affection, and apparently needs coitus at least once a week."

Leonard scoffed and was about to say, that is called asexual, but Howard interjected. "Until now right?"

Sheldon was confused and he started to twitch. Leonard noticed and glanced towards the bathroom doors, realizing they were running out of time to pull information out of Sheldon's head. "Sheldon, we were just wondering if the fact that Carly has nice skin might be why you asked her to come."

Sheldon stopped twitching and looked over at Leonard. He thought for a second. "Well it's a contributing factor, I suppose. I wouldn't want to engage myself around someone that was unhygienic. Their germs would be too hard to stand next to."

The guys all grinned to each other, realizing that Sheldon might be hardheaded and oblivious, but he might be having some physical attraction to the brunette librarian.

"Should we be talking about germs when we are supposed to be eating?" Carly teased as she and Bernadette returned back to the table, making all the guys (except Sheldon) jump in surprise and eat hastily.

Sheldon glanced up at Carly and admired her smile, his own lips curving upwards at it.

Bernadette noticed and winked at Carly when the brunette looked at her, making Carly look down with a blush to continue eating.

oO0Oo During the Restroom Break oO0Oo

Carly had washed her hands and began fixing her hair as she waited for Bernadette to finish in the stall. When she did, Bernadette grinned. "So Carly, do you think Sheldon was asking you out?"

Carly looked at the blond girl who was about the same height as her. She was surprised at the question. She thought though. "Probably not. He was just being friendly."

Bernadette shrugged and washed her hands. "I am not so sure. Leonard told Penny and Penny told me that Sheldon thinks you have nice skin."

Carly blushed and stopped fixing her hair. She turned to Bernadette. "He thinks I have nice skin?" She chuckled but felt flattered. "Well that is a good thing, I suppose."

Bernadette smirked knowingly. "I think it is. It was surprising because from all the time I have known Sheldon and from what I have heard about him, he has never been with anyone before."

Carly raised her eyebrows. "Never? Not even a preschool fling?"

Bernadette shook her head. "He has never been interested in women. And I don't mean he is a homosexual. He just thinks he is too evolved for intimate relations. So for him to say you have nice skin is a pretty big thing."

Carly was shocked to hear this. She hadn't thought about Sheldon liking her or anything, simply because she didn't want to confront him about her own feelings towards him. She thought he was highly intelligent and was handsome, two things that were appealing to her. Plus, he had this way about him that she liked deep down. She just couldn't figure it out yet.

"Hm," Carly said thoughtfully, following Bernadette to the paper towels. "So do you think he likes me, then?" she asked after a moment.

Bernadette shrugged. "Maybe in his own way, I think. Sheldon isn't normal so anything he does isn't going to be either. Plus, I don't think he realizes it yet."

Carly thought about Bernadette's words as they exited the bathroom to join the others for the rest of their dinner.


	3. Comic Book Night

Chapter 3: Comic Book Night

Carly had changed into some more comfortable clothing after getting home from the library and styled her long brown hair differently for the night out with the guys. Jeans were casual enough but she thought she should put on a dressier shirt. She chose a white tank top with a criss cross backing. Thanks to Penny, she had a bit more modern wardrobe. Until then, she hadn't really thought about attire before. She had always favored comfort over style.

As she stood in front of the mirror, examining herself, she remembered Bernadette's words the other night. Did Sheldon really think her skin looked nice? She frowned at a couple blemishes across her cheeks with scrutiny. Whatever he saw, she didn't see - but was thankful that he saw it anyways.

After deciding there was nothing else she could do in order to make herself look better - not that she truly understood all of her reasoning as to why she cared - she left for the apartment two floors above her.

Carly rose her hand to knock on the door, but was stopped just before her knuckles could touch by her name being whispered loudly behind her. Turning, she saw Penny waving her over from her apartment doorway with a grin.

"Hey! I heard you were going with the guys to the comic book store tonight. I love what you did with your hair!" Penny said excitedly, closing her door behind her as she approached the brunette.

Carly blushed with a flattered smile, grabbing onto the ends of her brown hair that she had waved a bit with a curling iron. She shifted in her blue flip flops. "Thanks," she mumbled.

"May I ask why you decided to dress up a bit?" Penny asked with a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Carly's blush got darker and she fought with herself. "Sheldon asked me to go."

Penny couldn't contain her knowing grin, crossing her arms over her chest. "Details!"

Carly bit the inside of her cheek, glancing backwards at the closed door to Sheldon's apartment. Suddenly feeling the urge to blab to Penny about her insecurities, Carly exhaled a deep breath.

"I'm worried that this is all being over looked and he is just being friendly," she explained in a rush.

Penny shook her head seriously. "Trust me honey, Sheldon has never acted like this before."

Carly frowned, looking up at her friend curiously. "What do you mean? Bernadette said something similar."

Penny let out a breath and shifted on her feet. "Okay, well since I met Sheldon, he has been uninterested in women. We all thought he might not be human, honestly," she stated off hand, thoughtfully. "But once you showed up a couple weeks ago, he has been… different."

Carly titled her head curiously. "Different?"

Penny nodded, squinting her eyes as she thought about the past couple weeks. "Sheldon hasn't been so…. what's the word I am looking for… um… well, completely egotistical."

Carly furrowed her eyebrows in confusion and Penny realize she wasn't making any sense.

"Okay let me explain this," Penny started. "He hates meeting new people and he almost never has been considerate over someone else's feelings. He is the kind of person who thinks he is smarter than everyone else and he won't hesitate to let them know. As you have witnessed that first night you hung out with us," Penny said and Carly nodded, remembering. "But ever since he apologized to you and if someone brings up your profession, in a good way of course, he doesn't make a condescending remark about it. He almost always does about me working at the Cheesecake Factory and rags on Howard and Leonard all the time. But never you."

Carly was shocked, but she didn't understand what that had to do with Sheldon for sure liking her. "Well maybe he realized that it was mean to do."

Penny snorted and laughed sarcastically. "No. He just insulted my work progress an hour ago. Or the lack thereof."

Carly didn't know what to think about all of this. She didn't even understand her own feelings towards Sheldon, how was she supposed to understand a man's feelings that he always kept locked under lock and key?

Penny saw that she wasn't making her point clear enough so she continued. "And that isn't it," she said, making Carly look up at her again with interest. "When he is around you, he lightens up. It's as if there is brightness behind his eyes like when he watches Star Trek or plays with his model trains." Penny saw the flash of curiosity in Carly's eyes. "And it's there when you aren't around as well, whenever he talks about you."

Carly brightened considerably at the declaration. "He talks about me?"

Penny grinned. "Yep, he does, all the time. He likes to tell us interesting facts he has learned while being around you."

Carly blushed, wondering what she had said that had been interesting to him enough to repeat it to his friends. She didn't want to know though, knowing it would embarrass her.

"So like I said, you don't have anything to worry about so far. The only thing that might pose a problem is that I don't think he sees it just yet. But he might soon. I know Leonard is trying his hardest to force it out of him."

Carly nodded thoughtfully, before smiling up at the blond. "Thank You Penny, for making me feel better."

Penny grinned and waved her off. "That's what I am here for. We're friends now."

Carly smiled back and felt very thankful that Penny was indeed her friend. "Well I probably should get over there, I am sure they are wondering where I am," Carly said, chuckling and glancing down at her white watch that said it was about thirty minutes till seven.

Penny nodded and turned towards her door. "Well, have fun sweetie. Oh and don't let the creepy guys in the store freak you out. Fair warning; don't look them in the eyes!"

Carly wasn't sure how to take that. "Okay," she said anyways, and then knocked on the door.

oO0Oo

Carly followed the guys into the comic book store, immediately feeling self-conscious as all eyes were on her suddenly. Her eyes glanced around the room uncomfortably, realizing that this was what Penny had warned her about. She scooted closer to Sheldon, feeling him tense a little at the sudden close contact, but she ignored it.

"Um… why is everyone staring at me?" she murmured to him and he took a step away. He glowered up at everyone, making them all look away and resume whatever they were doing. Carly immediately felt at ease when they were no longer staring.

Leonard leaned over to her. "It's because you are a girl," he replied from the corner of his mouth.

"Unfortunately for these guys they have never felt the warm presence of a woman, besides their mother," Howard stated offhandedly as he moved past them towards the boxes full of comics, followed by Raj who nodded silently at her in confirmation.

Leonard sighed and moved towards the boxes as well and Carly turned to where Sheldon was, realizing that he had walked away while they had been talking. She looked around the store, careful to not make eye contact with the other customers, finding him in the back where there were racks of t-shirts and even more comics. She quickly walked over to him, avoiding the looks she got from the others.

Carly looked up at the wall of comics, chewing on her bottom lip as she recognized Batman and The Flash on the covers. She wasn't exactly ignorant upon the subject of Superheroes. She glanced up at the tall man who was squinting his eyes in determination, apparently trying to look for a certain comic book.

She felt shy for the second time that night, the first time being in the backseat next to Sheldon. It had been awkward. And apparently from Leonard's remark when Sheldon had slid into the back seat, Sheldon never sat there. She wondered if it was because of her, but Sheldon had said that if they were to be in accident, he didn't want Leonard to break the front window by flying through it, causing a shard of glass to cut Sheldon's eye causing him to become blind. He then explained that by sitting in the back, the front seats would protect him enough that if he closed his eyes quickly, he could avoid such events from happening. It was a long explanation and both Leonard and Carly knew that Sheldon had just made up an excuse. She had held back a happy grin the entire time.

Staring up at him from in front of the comics, Carly gave him a smile. "What is your favorite comic, Sheldon?"

Sheldon looked over at her, as if remembering she was there and raised his eyebrows, before going back to his searching. "It's comic books and having only one favorite is highly overrated."

Carly took note of his correction, realizing that it must bug him if people called them just comics. She said nothing on the subject and smiled. "I agree. That is why I don't have one favorite color."

Sheldon finally turned to her, smiling a little. "You intrigue me, Carly Bennett."

Carly brightened at his words, wondering if he had absently said them. But she took them with a grain of salt and said, "And you intrigue me, Dr. Cooper."

Sheldon seemed to like her words because he smiled and continued on with looking at comics. She grinned and turned to the shirts, looking at them with interest.

"Do you want one?"

Carly jumped, looking up at him, startled. She then looked down at the shirts, shrugging. "I'm not exactly sure what shirts are what. I mean, I have seen you wear some of these symbols and I can assume that the bat on that one means that it's a Batman shirt, but I am still pretty new at this."

Sheldon nodded in understanding and took a batman shirt off the rack. "Well how about you come over tonight and you can watch Batman so you are worthy of wearing this shirt."

Carly immediately blushed but looked up at him, astonished at his offer. This was the third time he had asked her to spend time with him. Did this confirm everyone's suspicions? She bit her lip thoughtfully and saw his blue eyes were searching her face.

"Okay. I don't work until late tomorrow anyways. Will we be eating take out?" she said, a smile appearing on her face as she began to feel anxious about the rest of the night.

"Of course. Thai food is essential on Wednesdays," he said before heading towards the counter with the shirt in hand.

Carly then realized he was about to buy her the shirt and she ran after him, not knowing Raj, Leonard, and Howard had been watching them the whole time.

"Sheldon, don't buy me that," she said hastily, but he waved her off.

"Don't worry, you can't have it until you have watched all the Batman movies," he said with a smirk. She stopped pleading and looked up at him with wide eyes. "And I am being nice, if I wanted to make you truly worthy of wearing this shirt I would make you watch the old movies, the cartoon series, and make you read all the comic books."

Carly's protesting stopped. He wanted to spend time with her and wanted to buy something for her. She processed that with a sudden smile. "Fine. But now I am in your debt. I am going to have to buy you something now."

Sheldon shook his head, "Well that would be the social protocol, but no. I don't want anything, so save your money."

It was Carly's turn to wave him off. "No, Sheldon. I must now," she said and then smirked up at him suddenly with an idea. "But you must do something that I am interested in to deserve it."

Sheldon looked down at her, appalled. "Carly, no offense, but I have no interest in cleaning dusty books in order to be given one by you."

Carly laughed. "No! Just because I am a librarian, doesn't mean that is all I do. I have interests you know."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows at her, shocked. "How come you have never told me about them, then?"

Carly shrugged, becoming bashful again; confused as to why she suddenly felt guilty for not telling him even though she knew she had nothing to be guilty of. "I dunno. It has never come up."

"Why not?"

Carly laughed with another shrug. "It just hasn't."

"Carly, if we are going to be friends, this is the kind of thing I ought to know," Sheldon said, stern all of sudden.

Carly bit her lip but held her ground. "Well then on Saturday morning, come over at 9 and I will show you an interest of mine."

Sheldon seemed to be thinking her offer over and he almost looked as if he was going to decline, but then he nodded with a smile. "Okay. I will be there. But fair warning, if it has anything to do with sports, heights, or vigorous swimming, I am not going to promise anything."

Carly grinned. "Nope, it has nothing to do with any of those things."

Sheldon thought for a moment but was surprised to come up with nothing. "What, then?"

Carly realized she had him in suspense and she beamed. "You'll see."

She then turned around to go look at the action figures with curiosity and triumph as he stared at her in frustration that she wouldn't tell him. He then turned around and collected his subscriptions from the worker behind the counter.

"Hi. Can I help you find anything?" a man asked Carly, causing her to turn to him. He wasn't as tall as Sheldon but he was taller than the other guys and had red curly hair. He was smiling pleasantly enough and with the question he had asked her, she assumed he worked there.

"No thanks, I am just looking," she smiled politely at him and turned her attention back towards the action figures.

"Uh—well that wasn't the only reason why I came over here," he spoke again and she turned to him once more, seeing him shift uncomfortably.

"It wasn't?" she asked, tilting her head in interest.

He glanced down embarrassed, and smiled shyly up at her. "No. Um… well the only women I see come in here look like men, so when I see a beautiful girl like you, I can only ask if you were forced?"

She stared at him for a moment, not sure if she should laugh or be freaked out.

He realized this and he shoved his hands out in surrender. "Sorry," he smiled. "I was teasing."

Carly grinned and chuckled. "Oh, right."

Over by the comics, while Sheldon was complaining that he was missing a new comic to the other worker, the other three to the group were watching the commotion between Stuart and Carly. From past experiences, Stuart was an oddball and it was clear that he wasn't good around women. But he was different from most nerds and that was that he could walk up to them and at least attempt to woo them.

"Do you think Stuart is trying to hit on Carly?" Howard asked as they all continued to stare at the two in interest.

Leonard's eyebrow quirked as he watched the two laugh. "It would seem so."

Raj sulked, looking back down at the comics. "Why am I cursed with this problem of not being able to talk to women? Was I created to be alone for my whole life?"

Howard waved him off, "Maybe if you would spend less time whining and pray more often to your holy cow then it would happen."

Raj glared at Howard, his best friend out of them all. "That was uncalled for and I am only going to let it go because we are going to the movies tonight."

That made Howard stop staring and Leonard glanced at them. "Raj, how many times do I have to ask you to stop assuming that when I say we, I mean Bernadette and myself."

"You didn't clarify who when you said it. You just said we. So sorry if I am used to being the one you spend the most time with," Raj scowled.

Howard rolled his eyes and slammed his hand on the box. "Stop being so upset about it. You are making me upset and we both know how it is when both of us get upset."

Raj slumped his shoulders in defeat. "Fine, but you better take some time out for me too."

Howard sighed. "Fine."

Raj glared at him. "You don't have to sound unhappy about it."

Howard glared back at him. "I'm not, Raj. I am just tired of having to schedule my relationship around you."

"Well if you—"

"Love birds! Sheldon's coming," Leonard interjected and they both shut up, ignoring each other grumpily as they looked down at the comics.

"Hey guys. I hope you don't mind if Carly comes over tonight to watch Batman. We are going to be watching both of the movies back to back," Sheldon said with a smile, holding his paper bag of comics in one hand and flipping through the boxes with the other.

Leonard smirked up at him, "Why would we? Although Howard and Bernadette have a date tonight so it will just be us and Raj."

Raj grumbled. "No, I think I'll just go home. I'll see you guys later," he said and headed for the counter to retrieve his subscriptions and then he disappeared out the door.

The guys watched him leave with confusion but Howard sighed exasperated. "My goodness, it's like having a second girlfriend," he muttered before saying goodbye to the guys and getting his own comics and then leaving himself.

Sheldon then turned to Leonard. "What just happened?"

Leonard sighed. "You don't want to know."

Sheldon thought for a moment before shrugging. Leonard glanced over at Carly. Stuart looked put out before saying goodbye and leaving a remorseful smiling Carly. Leonard hoped that it meant that Carly had turned Stuart's advances down.

"You do know that if you are trying to find new comics in here, then it is absolutely a waste of time," Sheldon pointed out, causing Leonard to break out of his thoughts.

Leonard nodded with irritation. "Right, subscriptions," he muttered before turning away and signing himself up for new comics.

Carly approached Sheldon and grinned up at him. "Hey, did you get your new comic books?"

Sheldon looked up at her with a smile. "Of course."

"Which ones?" she asked curiously.

Sheldon raised an eyebrow before responding. "Well since you won't know what any of them are, I suppose it won't hurt to tell you," he said, turning to her all the way, getting that twinkle in his eye when he talked about something that excited him. Carly smiled at it, admiring his reaction to things that made him happy. "Batman Gates of Gotham, X-men vs. Avengers, and the Amazing Spiderman."

"Well actually I am aware of who all of them are. I do work at a library Sheldon, we sell the booklets to some comic books," she replied at his surprised expression.

"Oh right," he said, before Leonard hollered over to them to signal that he was ready to leave.

The trio stopped to pick up Thai food on the way home and once again, Sheldon sat in the backseat alongside Carly. This time she felt more comfortable and she talked casually to both Leonard and Sheldon instead of being completely silent like the car ride to the comic book store.

After eating, they were half way done with the movie Batman Begins and Carly surprised herself by being interested in it. Leonard frequently glanced over at the two from his seat in the arm chair, Carly sitting next to Sheldon on the couch. Neither of them were aware that they were sitting awfully close to one another and that when one of them moved the other one did. At one point Leonard had to hold back a laugh when they both reached out to grab a fortune cookie and ended up bumping hands because they had gone to pick the same one up. Carly had blushed fiercely and Sheldon had politely let her take it.

As the movie wore on, Leonard's phone vibrated and he took it out to see that Penny had texted him.

Hey sweetie. Come over. I need details and you should leave them alone together. See what happens.

After reading the message he shifted and sat up straighter, glancing from the movie to the couple on the couch. "Um… I am gonna go see how Penny is doing. She told me to come over later to see her…"

Carly watched Leonard stand and walk over to the door, Sheldon ignored him but said one thing, "If you are going to engage in coitus, please keep it over there."

Leonard stopped to glare at Sheldon with the door in his hand before he said goodnight to Carly and closed the door behind him.

Carly suddenly realized Sheldon and she were alone. She glanced over at him and apparently he was unaffected by this. He was staring intently at the TV screen. Carly glanced down to see his right hand on his knee and bit her lip to fight the urge to take it into hers. He would probably freak out.

So she tried to focus back on the movie, but found it harder to do so now that they were alone. She thought about asking him a dumb question about the movie just to hear him talk and have him pay attention to her for a split second, but she knew he didn't like it when people spoke during movies. She took a deep breath and glanced down before looking back up at the movie in defeat and cowardice.

"What's wrong?"

Carly's eyes snapped to his concerned face. "Nothing."

"Then why did you sigh? Most people that sigh are sad, depressed, bored, or exasperated," he said, pausing the movie which made the room become defiantly silent and made her cheeks blush with embarrassment.

"I'm just tired," she lied, forcing a reassuring smile up at him.

He frowned. "Would you like to save this for a different day when you aren't overly fatigued?"

Carly then gave him a true smile. "No, it's quite all right. Continue with the movie."

Sheldon nodded and played the movie again. A couple moments passed and then he paused it again, shifting in his seat to look at her and she looked back at him, beginning to feel self-conscious.

"Why did you pause the movie?" she asked, warily.

"Did Stuart ask you on a date?" he asked out of the blue and she widened her eyes at the question.

"What?"

Sheldon then looked uncomfortable for a second before staring at her seriously. "Forgive me. The man who talked to you over at the action figures when we were at the comic book store, his name is Stuart and he owns the store. I saw you guys talking—"

"I know who he is," she suddenly smiled, stopping him from mumbling on. "And yes, he did."

Carly was surprised at how taken aback Sheldon looked. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly agape. His whole body was leaning back as if the air had been knocked out of him.

"I said no though," she said hastily and he visibly relaxed.

"Thank God," he breathed and then he turned back to the movie and played it.

Carly frowned. That was it? She sat there for a moment, replaying the situation that just happened. Sheldon had seemed upset by the fact that Stuart had asked her out. The confirmation of his feelings were then brought up to an eighty-five percent.

"Sheldon?"

He paused the movie again, looking at her with a raise of his eyebrow.

"Why did you ask?" she mumbled.

Sheldon looked speechless for a moment before he thought up something. "Stuart has asked out many women that have walked into his store, including Penny. He is an odd creature and I was just wondering if I needed to warn you of his notions with women."

Carly raised her eyebrows at him, wondering if that was just an excuse or if it was the real reasoning. "What notions? He seemed nice enough."

Sheldon looked stunned. "Nice enou—no. He owns a comic book store, Carly. He is not exactly the "women guru" as Wolowitz calls it. You saw what kind of guys are in there, he is just the same. They're all creepy."

Carly looked baffled. "Sheldon, you go in there and you aren't creepy."

Sheldon realized he had messed up his excuse. "Uh-um, I mean. I'm not creepy. And I am a theoretical physicist and he just owns a comic book store. You wouldn't want to go out with him."

Carly couldn't contain her smile at that so she bit her lip. Make that ninety-five percent positive he liked her. He had been trying to make justifications for his real reasoning but he had admitted what the truth was without realizing it. She was surprised at the flirty response that soon came out of her mouth, "And what if I wanted to go out with a guy that owned a comic book store?"

Sheldon looked like a deer in headlights. His mouth twitched and then his eye did. "Uhm—a woman like you? You'd look better on the arm of…" His voice cracked and he had to lean over and take a drink of his diet coke.

Carly had to refrain from grinning now. "On the arm of who, Sheldon?" she asked, making him look uncomfortable as he tried to think of something to say. "You?" It was bold. And a couple weeks ago she would have never said it to a man no matter how much she liked them. But he made her feel different. Like she was a normal woman, and she had never felt that way before.

He stared at her with his mouth open; apparently not know what to say. Carly glanced down at her hands that were starting to sweat and she realized the movie was forgotten by then.

Sheldon somehow had found the words to speak because he composed himself for a moment. "Someone like me, I suppose."

Carly looked up at him and his eyes flashed down the floor uncomfortably, no longer able to look at her in the eyes.

Carly felt her heart flutter at his words and she swallowed thickly before stating, "There isn't anyone like you."

Sheldon nodded slowly. "I know… but just in case."

Carly decided that it was enough for now. She realized that he was highly uncomfortable and his eyes were flitting around the floor like he was looking for a hole to crawl through to avoid the subject at hand. She didn't want him to admit to things he wasn't ready to, but now she had peace of mind.

"Well if I am going to finally wear that shirt, we best be getting on with the movie," she said to advert the conversation.

That seemed to calm him and he nodded again, sitting up straighter on the couch and hitting the play button on the remote. The rest of the movie was silent with no more interruptions and so was the next movie. Soon she was saying goodbye and had left the apartment, leaving Sheldon alone to clean up the coffee table and head to bed. His mind was spinning with new thoughts he had never thought before.


	4. Carly's Hobby

Chapter 4: Carly's Hobby

Saturday rolled around and Carly and Sheldon had not seen each other since the night that they had watched Batman together. Maybe it was because Carly hadn't gone up to his apartment to see him or the guys the rest of the week or maybe it was because she felt like he was avoiding her. Either way, they had plans that morning and she was beginning to wonder if he would show up at all.

Carly had woken up with mixed feelings: anxiety and excitement. She didn't know if she should get her hopes up but then again she felt that she knew Sheldon enough that he never made a plan he didn't intend to keep. So she started her day as if he would be showing up and dressed in jeans and her Batman shirt he had bought her. She hadn't worn it since he had handed it to her Wednesday night after watching both Batman movies and she figured that it fit that she wore it today. She honestly didn't know if he would like where she was planning on taking him, but she hoped that it didn't cause him too much grief.

She had eaten breakfast already and was checking her watch frequently as the time ticked closer to nine. A knock on her door made her heart jump to her throat and she threw down the Geographic magazine she had been pretending to read to go open it. She flattened her hair that hung loosely around her shoulders and pulled her shirt down to adjust it.

"Hi!" a bright voice that definitely didn't belong to Sheldon spoke, making Carly breath in relief. She hadn't realized how anxious she really was until she saw Penny.

"Hey, Penny, what's up?"

"You thought I was Sheldon, hunh?" Penny asked, hearing the disappointment Carly couldn't keep to herself.

"Yeah but it's okay, come in," Carly said with a small smile, opening the door completely and letting the blond in.

"I won't stay long because Sheldon should be arriving soon—Leonard told me," Penny explained when she saw Carly's questioning look. "But I wanted to know what was going on with you two? I haven't seen you since Wednesday? I hope everything went okay."

Carly crossed her arms over her chest uneasily. "Well everything was fine and we were watching Batman together and then he asked me if Stuart had asked me out while at the comic book store. And I said yes he did, and then I asked him why. And then he said that he wanted to warn me about Stuart. And I asked him why. And he said because a girl like me shouldn't go out with a guy like Stuart. And I asked him why again. And he said because he is a theoretical physicist and Stuart owns a comic book store. And then I asked him what if I wanted to be with someone who owns a comic book store, and then he said that a woman like me should be on the arm of someone like him. And then I said that there wasn't someone like him. And he agreed." She took a long deep breath and Penny stared at her amazed at how long Carly could talk without breathing… and how fast she was.

"Wow," Penny said.

"I'm sorry. When I get upset, I ramble," Carly explained with a blush.

"No, no, don't worry about it. So do I," Penny waved her off. "But what I meant was, wow. Sheldon kind of admitted to liking you."

Carly widened her eyes and nodded. "Yeah I guess he did."

Penny grinned. "Well that is great! I can't believe I am saying this, but yay for Sheldon."

Carly smiled slightly but then began to worry again. "Well I am not sure if it's a good thing. I think he is avoiding me."

Penny pursed her lips and frowned at her in sympathy. "Don't worry honey. I think he is just confused by what he is feeling. Up until now, I think he didn't even know he could feel anything towards another person. And it's scary to feel that for the first time. I remember I was."

Carly nodded in comprehension. "I am a bit scared as well," she said with a small laugh.

Penny smiled and pulled her into a hug. "Aw sweetie, don't worry about it. Everything will work out like it should. If Sheldon is the right one for you, you will know."

Carly smiled and hugged her back. "Thanks Penny. You're a great friend."

Penny pulled back and grinned. "I know!" She teased and then let go of Carly to hurry to the door. "I gotta go. Have fun with Sheldon today."

"How do you know he is coming?" Carly asked, following her to the door and letting her friend out.

Penny turned as she walked, "I saw him getting ready before I came down. Good job by making it a surprise by the way. He is dying with suspense," she said with a wink and then headed down the stairs towards the lobby.

Carly grinned after her, feeling much better than before. She closed the door and walked over to the mirror that hung on her wall next to the door, checking her appearance over. If Sheldon really was coming like Penny said he was, she needed to make sure she was as presentable as she could be….

There was three knocks and she heard from outside the door, "Carly." Three more knocks. "Carly." And then three more knocks. "Carly."

She grinned at the sound of Sheldon's voice, wondering why he felt the need to knock like that but accepted it as another thing that made him Sheldon. She cleared her throat before opening the door and seeing him stand in front of her, wearing purple pants and a red flash t-shirt with a brown long sleeve shirt underneath, the sleeves pushed up to his elbows. In her opinion he looked overly handsome.

"Hi," she said to him, his eyes looking at her uneasily.

"Hi," he murmured in acknowledgement.

Carly attempted to look comfortable enough for the both of them, "Ready to go?"

He nodded and she grabbed her keys from the hook next to the door and locked her apartment before they descended down the stairs together. She was starting to feel the excitement of the trip.

"Can you tell me where we are going now?" Sheldon asked, clearly impatient.

Carly laughed, "No, Sheldon. It's a surprise."

"I didn't make it a surprise when I had you watch Batman," he pointed out as they walked out the apartment and towards the parking garage where she had parked her car.

"I know, but if I told you what we are going to do then you might back out," she explained, pressing the button on her key ring, hearing the doors unlock to her car. They both climbed in and put their seat belts on.

"That's true, but wouldn't this count as kidnapping since technically you aren't letting me make my own decision to do this or not?" he asked as she turned the car on and immediately turned the AC on as it was super-hot inside.

Carly laughed at his words and he adjusted the vent in front of him. "Not unless you call it willingly being kidnapped. You didn't have to agree to come."

Sheldon snapped his mouth closed, realizing she had a valid argument, but wanting to pursue it further he said, "I had to agree. You did something for me, now I have to do something for you. It's a social protocol between friends."

Carly quirked an eyebrow at the word, 'friends', but said nothing on the matter. "Exactly, but it's up to me whether or not I want to make it a surprise. And I am making it a surprise."

Sheldon huffed as they drove but discontinued the argument. Carly smiled as she drove, reveling in the fact that they were going to have a good time and that she could smell him from the driver's seat. He must have taken a shower before arriving at her apartment and he smelled heavily of men's soap. She bit her lip, not being able to place the scent but liked it nonetheless. It did something in her body that she wasn't used to, making her bite her lip harder.

Sheldon couldn't hold silent for long though. "Can you give me a hint, then?"

Carly glanced over at him, forcing back a laugh at how much of a childlike plead he was holding in his expression towards her. "Um… where we are going holds something inside of it. And you have told me you like this something."

Sheldon gasped in excitement. "The model train store?"

Carly shook her head with a grin, "Nope."

"Drat," Sheldon slumped in his seat but then tilted his head with a nod. "That wouldn't be right anyways, considering you said this is one of your interests and you don't know much about trains."

Carly laughed.

He then perked up but then slumped again, apparently going against his idea without revealing it. Carly was definitely amused for the next thirty minutes as they drove back to her hometown.

oO0Oo

Carly pulled in and Sheldon stared at the building blankly. "Burbank Animal Shelter?"

Carly nodded enthusiastically and hopped out of the car. Sheldon followed her, still staring up at the building confused. "You drove thirty minutes to come to an animal shelter? This is your hobby?"

Carly smiled and led him to the door. "Yep, I used to come here all the time when I lived here. Now that I live over in Pasadena, I haven't stopped by in a while."

Sheldon looked wary. "I am not sure I want to do this, Carly. What if they have an extremely sick animal in there? What if it jumps species? What if I die because of this?"

Carly rolled her eyes and took his hand, which reflexed away from her touch but she held it firmly to pull him along. "Don't be silly, Sheldon. Trust me. It's fine."

Sheldon glanced inside the window with anxiety but looked down at Carly who smiled reassuringly at him. He nodded slowly and she brightened, opening the door and leading him inside.

"Hey sweat pea! Long time no see!" A woman slightly taller than Carly exclaimed with a heavy southern accent from behind the counter. She had dirty blond hair that was held back in a ponytail and her overly tanned skin held laugh lines on her face. She looked about forty and she was incredibly happy that Carly was in there.

She stopped on her way over to see her though, spotting Sheldon. "Well my, my. Who do we have here?"

Carly glanced behind her to see Sheldon glancing around the room uneasily as if looking for a reason to leave. Carly looked back at the woman with a blush, "Bea, this is Sheldon Cooper. He lives two floors above me."

At his name, Sheldon looked down at the woman called Bea and she raised her eyebrows from him back to Carly again.

"Not even there a full month girly and you already got a boyfriend? The city did wonders for you sweetie," Bea said, sizing up Sheldon. "You got yourself a tall one too. Good pickin'."

Carly blushed and Sheldon looked extremely uncomfortable. "Uhm, no we aren't together. Just friends," Carly explained, looking down uneasily for a moment through her smile.

Bea didn't look sorry but she apologized. "Well, come here honey. I feel like I haven't seen you in forever."

Carly laughed and embraced the woman before they pulled back from each other. "It's only been a couple weeks. Although how much damage has been done without me?" she teased.

Bea laughed a hoarse laugh and Sheldon frowned at it before he watched Carly move towards the counter, peering over it with a grin. He became curious so he followed her and her gaze to see a pin where a temporary habitat was set up for a pure white bunny. He couldn't help but let a smile appear on his face at it. It was adorable, after all.

"Oh girl! You know we do better with your tender touch around here. Hoppy there has been missing you," Bea said with a laugh, walking over to the pen and petting the bunny behind his ears.

Carly grinned and glanced back at Sheldon. "Do you want to go see what I brought you here for?"

Sheldon took a step back, realizing he had been caught smiling at a rabbit and frowned, but nodded wanting to restore his masculinity. "I suppose. But I must say Hoppy is a rather stereotypical name to give a rabbit."

Bea raised her eyebrows at his condescending statement and Carly blushed and looked at him uncomfortably. "I thought it was a good name."

Sheldon snorted. "Sure, if we lived in the late 1800's."

Carly frowned and pressed her lips together, her shoulders slumping and began to lead him to the back of the building.

"Sweetie, you don't have a clue do you?" Bea asked Sheldon as he started to follow Carly. He stopped and looked at the woman, frowning at her.

"If you are referring to what you are talking about, no. I don't," he replied.

Bea placed her hands on her hips. "Sheldon, isn't it? Well Sheldon, look. If you are going to be around that young lady you better start being more considerate of her feelings. Couldn't you tell that she was upset when you insulted her choice in naming this bunny?"

Sheldon's eyes widened, realizing that Carly had been the one to name the rabbit and he instantly felt guilty. "Not until just now, no," he said honestly.

Bea raised an eyebrow and took a step towards him. "That girl in there is sweet, caring, and loving. Now if you guys have anything going on then you best be watching out for her, including paying closer attention to her feelings."

Sheldon didn't know what to say to that. This woman called Bea vaguely reminded him of his own mother. But she wasn't and he was going to call her out on it but then he wondered something. "Do you care a lot for Carly?"

Bea was not expecting his response. "Yes, why of course I do. She is like a daughter to me," she said.

Sheldon nodded understanding, knowing Carly must have latched herself to the woman since her parents died a long time ago. "Well then I can assure you I will be more careful with paying attention to her feelings."

Bea seemed to accept his answer and that was a good thing considering Carly returned and looked between them expectantly. "Sheldon, are you coming?"

Sheldon nodded and followed her. "Yes of course and I think Hoppy is a wonderful name for a rabbit, especially that one."

Carly blinked and looked over at Bea, who grinned and winked at the young woman. Carly shook her head with a smile before leading him into the back and opening a door to the right of them.

"I opened all their cages so be careful to not let any of them out," she warned as she carefully opened the door and looked in, before moving herself through the door. She grinned when he did the same.

Sheldon closed the door carefully behind him and turned. He saw so many different kinds of cats that he had trouble keeping up with his thoughts as he said the names of them in his head. "Wow."

Carly beamed and looked around her, finding a small white and black cat to scratch it behind the ears. "I have volunteered here for a few years now. All these cats are adoptable and there is nothing wrong with them, so you don't have anything to worry about - like diseases jumping species or biting you to turn you into Catwoman," she teased as she watched him freeze and tense up as cats brushed themselves up against his legs.

He glared up at her. "I never said anything about turning into Catwoman. And if we are being technical here I would be a Catman and Catwoman was never bitten by a cat. She just saw herself as feline like," he said, struggling to stand on his tiptoes as he tried to move away from the cats.

Carly frowned. "I thought you liked cats."

Sheldon looked at her in a panic. "I do. I just don't trust them."

Carly rolled her eyes with a smile and took a treat bag out of a cupboard. All the cats came running to her at the crinkle of the bag and Sheldon sighed in relief as he was now standing alone. He started examining the cages and how clean they were, while Carly fed the cats treats. She glanced up at him.

"Sheldon, would you like to feed them a couple treats too?" she asked him, causing him to stop scrutinizing and look at her and the cats, panic suddenly reappearing in his eyes.

"I… I don't know. I think I'm okay," he said, shrugging and waving her off, attempting to hide his uneasiness from her.

Carly sighed heavily. She fed all of the cats a treat except the small white and black one, who was pleading with her by her feet. She picked him up and stood, walking over to Sheldon.

Sheldon's eyes widened and stared down at the cat with fright. He tried to back away but she caught his wrist quickly and held him still before he could get too far. "Carly, I do not think that this is a good idea."

Carly rolled her eyes, "Sheldon give me your hand."

Sheldon stuck out his chin. "No."

"Sheldon, come on."

"No."

"Please?"

"No."

"Now, Sheldon!" she said, getting frustrated with his persistence.

He almost stomped his foot and she bit her lip as he held his hand out to her in defeat. "Fine, but you could have asked nicely."

Carly ignored him and took his hand to place a treat onto his palm. "This is Oreo. He's my favorite. I found him in a shoe box behind the dumpster outside. He was just a kitten."

Sheldon carefully picked the treat up with his fingers and held it out for the cat that was desperately trying to get to it. Surprisingly, Oreo didn't eat his fingers as well and was satisfied with the treat. Carly set him down to let him wander with the other cats.

"You named him Oreo?" Sheldon asked, his voice and face hinting he was about to say something condescending.

She raised her eyebrows up at him, as if daring him to say anything about her name choice, and he looked down as if he was a kid being caught in the cookie jar. She crossed her arms across her chest and looked around at all the cats. "I thought you would like this."

"It's nice… but what am I going to get out of it?" he asked, cutting to the chase.

Carly rolled her eyes. "Is that the only reason why you wanted to come?"

Sheldon looked aghast. "Of course not! I was just curious."

Carly laughed and began returning the cats to their cages. She had two in their cages when she saw Sheldon staring at her. "Would you like to help?" she asked him with a hesitant smile.

His eyes wandered around the room, looking at each cat before shrugging. "Why not?" he said, before helping her.

Soon they were saying goodbye to Bea and were on the road again back to Pasadena. Sheldon had admitted that he enjoyed himself, although he had been wary of the health of the animals. But, after closely examining the cages, he agreed that they were well taken care of.

"So what do I get?" Sheldon asked as he looked out the passenger window. He was attempting to hide in his eagerness.

Carly pressed her lips together to keep from laughing. "Hang on," she said as she turned the steering wheel to drive the little ways to the mall.


	5. Will You Be My Girlfriend?

Chapter 5: Will You Be My Girlfriend?

Sheldon returned to his apartment, a cat from build-a-bear in his arm. He was happy. More happy than he had been in a really long time. He had picked a black and white cat to dress in a train conductor outfit and had named him William Murdock after the man who invented the first steam locomotive prototype. He had informed Carly of this on the way home and had gone into detail about how the train had come to what it is today.

He noticed as he walked through his apartment, that Leonard was nowhere to be found and he assumed that he was out with Penny. Sheldon noticed the time and that it was time for dinner so he hurried into his bedroom to place his cat on his bed. When he returned to the main area he stopped, realizing that he hadn't offered Carly to come for dinner. She had gone to all that trouble to make him have a good day, he could have at least asked her to come over.

He hurried out of the apartment and found himself almost at a loss for breath. He practically felt like he was choking as he walked down the stairwell. It was odd and he stopped on the third level, staring down at his hands that were beginning to sweat and feel clammy. He hadn't felt this way since he had to make that speech about an award that he had been given at the university…. and that had ended badly with alcohol. He shook himself, attempting to rid himself of his anxiety, and continued down the stairs towards the second level. Carly's smiling face flashed into his mind and he began to think about how she was with the animals. He hadn't known she was such an avid animal lover. She was so… gentle. It made something in him stir and by the time he reached her apartment door, his breathing had become labored again.

He licked his suddenly dry lips, staring at the door for a moment. He was confused with himself. Why was he feeling this way? He had asked her to dinner before. Why did it feel different this time? He took a step back and looked at the light peering underneath her door. He saw no shadow so she wasn't near the door at the moment. He placed his hand on his heart, feeling it race wildly in his chest.

Was this what Leonard felt when he had been pining for Penny? Wait. Was he pining for Carly? It was true that he thought her nice to be around and he agreed her skin was decent. He was astonished with his next thoughts. She was pretty. It was more than just her skin now. Her hair was silky looking and her eyes were the colors of the sea, neither blue nor green: both.

He raised his fist to knock, inwardly smacking himself for being pathetic and he was surprised to see the door swing open suddenly. His eyes widened and he saw Carly with her hair a little disheveled as if she had run her hands through her hair many times. Her eyes were searching his face for something, and he felt his heart jump in betrayal.

What happened next was completely unexpected. Her lips were pressed against his and he froze up like a popsicle. It was over before he could process what had happened and his eyes were still as wide as half-dollars, his lips ajar from the kiss. She fell to the bottoms of her feet and looked up at him, panic starting to set in.

"Interesting," he muttered absently to seemingly no one.

Carly frowned, her eyes wide as she slowly licked her lips. She swallowed uneasily. "What's… interesting?" she asked, her voice a quiet murmur.

Sheldon looked at her as if she was an alien, making her recoil slightly. "Interesting that you are panicking when you were the one that attacked me. Shouldn't I be the one panicking? But it's also interesting that I'm not panicking. I am just surprised and shocked, and those words mean the same thing, but still. It's interesting that I am wanting you to do it again and that I am not repulsed by it. It's interesting—"

Her lips were on his again and this time, his eyes fluttered close on their own. Her arms wound their way to his waist and pulled him closer to her. He realized how short she was and wrapped his arms around her in return, lifting her up slightly as he leaned down to make her more comfortable. The kiss was closed mouth and was just a long press of lips, but it felt mesmerizing to the both of them.

Carly pulled back for breath, but kept her forehead pressed against his, looking into his eyes that opened slowly to lock onto hers. "Sheldon?" she whispered.

He could only nod, not knowing quite what to say. Their breathing intermingled against their faces and he could feel both his and her hearts pounding loudly against one another. His mind was spinning with words that described the shared kiss: fascinating, interesting, captivating, enthralling, stimulating…

"I'm sorry if I took you by surprise. I was gonna come see you in your apartment but not to do that. We just had such a good day together and - I just saw you and I couldn't help it…." She said, her cheeks flushing painfully.

Sheldon surprised himself when he pressed his lips against hers in response, catching her off guard. She kissed him back and after a tender moment, he pulled away with a strange feeling in the pit of his stomach. "Would you—like to come over for dinner?" he mumbled and she looked up at him, her eyes glazed over.

Carly nodded, now unable to speak herself, and followed him silently up the stairs to his apartment, their hands locked together. Penny and Leonard were sitting on the couch eating slices of pizza, and looked up at them as they entered - their held hands not going unnoticed by the two.

"Well hey guys! How was today?" Penny asked, not being able to contain herself. And she sounded way too nosy to be casual.

Leonard smirked into his pizza as Sheldon, who's ears had turned red, walked with Carly through the room and towards the couch.

"Get up. You're in my spot," he told Penny, who scowled and made Leonard scoot over. But was soon kicked off the couch completely when Penny grabbed a hold of Carly's wrist and pulled her down between herself and Sheldon.

Leonard huffed in annoyance and went to sit in the armchair.

"Sheldon, that was rude," Carly pointed out, but Sheldon was already getting himself a slice of pizza.

"Penny has been eating with us for years now, she should be well aware that this is my spot and whoever sits in it will be told to move," he replied before taking a bite out of his pizza.

Carly was going to protest further but Penny nudged her, making her look over at the blond. "Don't bother. He's right, I knew better," Penny replied with a shrug.

Carly let it go then and took a piece of pizza for herself as Leonard spoke up. "So you never said, how was today?"

Sheldon scoffed. "Leonard, don't you ever watch the news? It was 85 with a 20% chance of precipitation. Good lord, I thought you got that app for a reason."

Leonard glared at him and then looked to Carly. "How did today go, Carly?"

Carly grinned at him, her cheeks pinking a little. "Great. We had a good time."

"Cool, where did you guys go?" Penny asked, curious as she took a bite.

"Carly took me to the animal shelter that she volunteers at over in Burbank," Sheldon explained enthusiastically.

Carly smiled at him fondly, glad that he had a good time like she had hoped he would.

"An animal shelter, hunh? That's really sweet," Leonard commented, making Carly blush and smile down bashfully at her pizza.

"Yep," she mumbled as Sheldon glared over at Leonard.

"Is it wrong to sweet on someone else, while sitting in front of your girlfriend?" he asked, his eyebrow twitching.

Penny choked on her pizza and Carly looked at Sheldon with a confused frown, while Leonard looked at him like he was insane. "I wasn't hitting on Carly. Taking care of animals is sweet, Sheldon."

Sheldon wouldn't let it go and Carly tried to contain the pride that was swelling up inside her at the fact that Sheldon was becoming possessive over her. "Sheldon relax, he was just being polite. He didn't mean anything by it," she soothed, making him glance at her before glowering at Leonard venomously.

"You best watch it," Sheldon muttered to him and Leonard blinked owlishly at the physicist. He had never seen him like this over a person before, besides his mother. And his Mee-Maw.

"Um so anyways, Carly," Penny said while blinking rapidly, trying to refrain from awing at Sheldon's macho-ness when it came to Carly. "Bernadette and I are planning a girl's night on Monday and we wanted to know if you'd come."

Carly was shocked. She had never gone to a girl's night before and had only seen them on TV. "Sure," she smiled. "What are you guys planning on doing?"

Penny shrugged while taking a sip of her water bottle. "Oh just buy a bottle of wine and kick back and relax. We can all crash at my place," she said with a coy smile.

Carly brightened considerably, "Sounds fun. I get off at eight so I will hurry to change and I will meet you up here then."

Penny grinned. "Awesome."

"Carly," Sheldon interrupted.

Penny and Leonard rolled their eyes. Carly turned her attention to him, giving him a small smile. "Yes?"

"Are you sure it's wise to drink with Penny? I have seen her drink and it's not productive. She even has caused me to be so called 'wasted' and I ended up taking off my pants in front of a crowd. I just don't want that for you," he explained and she couldn't help but laugh, despite herself.

"Wait, what? You got wasted and took your pants off?" she asked him, clearly unbelieving.

Sheldon blushed darkly from his ears to his cheeks, then glanced away. "Admittedly yes, but it was because I was nervous about making a speech and Penny told me that it would help."

"And it did!" Penny defended herself loudly. "You were so not nervous you didn't mind getting comfortable on stage."

"Let alone, letting everyone see your ass," Leonard said with a laugh, making Penny burst into laughter as well.

Carly saw how embarrassed and ashamed Sheldon looked, her smile fading. She placed a hopeful hand over his and he tensed up, before glancing over at her with a small smile. She had to fight the urge to kiss him right then and there.

"Well I gotta work early tomorrow. I will see you all later," Penny said, standing up suddenly and dusting her pants off.

"I'll walk you out," Leonard said with a smirk and followed her out after saying goodnight to Carly.

The couple was alone once more and it was just as uncomfortable as the last time. Except this time, they had their shared kisses looming over their heads and had no idea where to go from there. Carly ate her pizza, trying to swallow quietly because it was incredibly silent in the apartment. She chanced a glance at Sheldon and he seemed to be inwardly struggling with something.

She frowned and turned to him. "Are you all right?"

Sheldon glanced at her, his eye twitching a little. "Yeah, I'm fine. A little rattled that they told you all about that, but I am fine."

Carly smiled, reassuringly and leaned into him, squeezing his hand a little. "Don't worry I am not going to make fun of you."

Sheldon smiled with appreciation. "I know. You aren't like that."

She shook her head in agreement. He stared at her smile, admiring it for a moment before he frowned. "Carly?"

"Yes, Sheldon?" she asked, noticing where he was staring at and she licked her lips nervously. That made him shift a little and he looked up at her eyes with a new intensity.

"I think I would like to kiss you again," he replied quietly and she held back a gasp, not expecting the statement.

In all honesty, she was surprised he had responded the way he had. If someone were to ask her how she thought he would react, she would have told them that he would have decided to run in a vigorous sprint far away from her and never looked back. But this was encouraging and Carly found herself smiling at him softly, if not a little nervously, as she gave him a nod.

"Okay."

He turned in his seat to face her fully to lift his other hand, that wasn't connected to hers, to tilt her chin up. He looked into her eyes deeply and then leaned in slowly to kiss her. His closed lips pressed against her own mouth felt warm and inviting. Her hand that held his loosened the grip to trail up his arm, making him shiver slightly and feel things he hadn't before. Her hand stopped at his shoulder and caressed her fingertips to his neck.

Both needing air, they pulled away at the same time. Their eyes locked, heavily lidded, as their hearts raced each other.

"Sheldon?" she whispered.

"Yes?" he immediately responded, making her lips curve upwards.

"What does this mean?" she hesitantly asked him.

Sheldon recoiled, dropping his hands and looking away from her uncomfortably. "Well…" he paused to gulp down his nerves and crazy thoughts. "I suppose that this means…. well what social protocol actions need to take place now that we have engaged in not one but several kisses, is to well…" his voice trailed off and his fingers fumbled nervously in his lap.

"Ask me, Sheldon," she encouraged suddenly. She knew what he was getting at and she felt almost antsy with anticipation.

He glanced at her once before looking down again at the floor, his eyes seeming to look for that hole to crawl into. He was silent for a long time but she waited silently for him to speak.

But her patience was growing thin. "Sheldon?"

He jumped, startled and he suddenly turned around with a deciding nod to himself. "Carly. Will you be so kindly to not reject my question as to if you will be my girlfriend?"

That wasn't exactly what she had thought he'd say but she shouldn't have been surprised. She laughed. "No, I won't reject your question, but you must ask it first."

He let out a breath and glared at her. "You are being difficult; you know how much this is making me uneasy."

Carly leaned in and kissed his cheek, taking him off guard but gave her a smile when she pulled away. His mind was then made up. "Carly," he began again and appreciated when she sat up straight to give him her full attention. "Will you be my girlfriend?"

Carly pretended to think and tapped her chin with her forefinger while looking up with a smile. He watched her and was confused when she suddenly frowned.

"Before you answer, remember you said that you wouldn't reject," he said hastily, making her hold on to her words.

She broke into a bright smile. "I know, but before I answer, you must answer this question first."

Sheldon raised his eyebrows. "I didn't know we could have stipulations before the answer had been given."

Carly rolled her eyes. "Sheldon, if I can't reject your question then we all know what my answer is going to be. I am just stalling it for a moment."

Sheldon thought her words over before reluctantly nodding. "Okay fine, go on."

Carly shifted eagerly in her seat. "Okay, Sheldon. If we are to be boyfriend and girlfriend does that mean I can kiss you whenever I want and vice versa with you?"

"No," Sheldon replied immediately and Carly felt dejected. "I prefer it to be a private thing, meaning I don't want people watching as I have intimate moments with my girlfriend."

Carly instantly felt a little better, as she understood. "Okay, that's fine. How about hand holding?"

"Would you rather me just type this out? I could make a relationship agreement and have it printed out by tomorrow," Sheldon offered, too serious for his own good. "It would save us this time we are wasting while we could be downstairs doing our laundry."

"No Sheldon. Just answer my question," Carly said, shooting that idea down quickly, making him slump in defeat but begrudedly nod.

"We can only hold hands while giving each other moral support, shaking hands after I receive my Nobel Prize, and…. well I suppose we can when we sit on the couch as well. I didn't mind it a few minutes ago," he explained, shrugging.

She grinned and sat up properly, looking at him in the eyes. "Then yes, Sheldon. I will be your girlfriend."

He let out a sigh of great relief. "I thought you were going to back out."

Carly laughed at him. "Sheldon, I told you I wouldn't."

"Yeah but that doesn't mean anything. Everyone said that the Green Lantern movie was going to be great, but it wasn't," he pointed out.

Carly shook her head in amusement and smiled, before standing up from the couch.

"Where are you going?" he asked, shocked that she was leaving so suddenly after they had agreed to be boyfriend and girlfriend.

She reached the door then turned to give him a smile over her shoulder. "I'm going to go get my clothes. I will meet you in the laundry room in a few minutes, deal?"

Sheldon smirked, looking down at his watch as he got to his feet. "Smart thinking. It's twenty minutes till 8:15. Wouldn't want to be late. Okay, I will see you then."

When he turned around to head back into his bedroom, she grinned and called out to him on a whim. "Sheldon?"

He spun around to see her walking towards him and stop a few feet away. "May I kiss you?" she asked, her eyes wide and hopeful.

He didn't have time to respond because of his own absentminded actions as he was already leaning down and kissing her. They pulled away momentarily and then smiled at each other, enjoying the feelings that they could give one another.

"See you, my boyfriend," she said with a wink, before turning on her heel and heading to the door.

"Okay, my girlfriend," he said quietly back at her, then headed to his bedroom to retrieve his clothing.

They both wore smiles the rest of the evening.


	6. Chapter 6: Girl's Night

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry it has taken me so long to update this story on here. I completely forgot that I hadn't finished posting the chapters on this site. Please forgive me!

Chapter 6: Girls' Night

Monday hadn't come fast enough, in Carly's opinion. She was so excited to spend the night over at Penny's with the girls. As soon as she got home, she changed into her Ed Hardy shirt that Penny had swayed her to buy and a pair of jean shorts. She was a little self-conscious about her legs being exposed since she wasn't as tan like Penny, but she decided she didn't want to care.

Everyone now knew about Sheldon and Carly's relationship and spoke of it often. Every time they would croon "Sharly", Carly would blush darkly and Sheldon would scowl in irritation. Carly was impressed with how many times Sheldon wanted to kiss her. Whenever they were alone, he would take her by surprise with a chaste press of his lips to hers. She knew that Sheldon was germaphobic and to use his mouth on her had to make him uncomfortable. She had thought of asking him if kissing was uneasy for him, but she was too afraid that he'd stop kissing her. So she decided to leave it be for now.

She also knew that Sheldon was worrying about the night with Penny. The blond had made it no secret that she loved to drink, and Carly knew this. However, the librarian had rarely had a chance to drink alcohol of any kind. Now graced with the opportunity, Carly didn't see the problem. She understood her limits and was honestly just looking forward to hanging out with just the girls.

She explained this to Sheldon during his protests, and he seemed to understand but he then went on to tell her that if she were to drink from the bottle that he was not going to kiss her for approximately seven days - just to be sure she was clean. Apparently, Penny didn't care about germs and has placed her mouth god knows where... is what he told her.

"Hey sweetie, come on in!" Penny said brightly, a large bottle in her hand already, ushering the librarian inside her apartment.

Carly grinned and walked in, spotting Bernadette on the couch with a glass of wine in her hand. "Hi, Bernadette," she said happily in greeting.

"Hel—"Bernadette hiccuped. "—Lo. Oh sorry," she laughed girlishly, placing her hand on her chest with an embarrassed smile.

Penny closed the door and walked behind Carly towards the kitchenette. "So what would you like, Carly? I bought red wine, Peach Snapps, Butterscotch Snapps, and…. Eristoff…" She said pointing to each one on the counter until she got to the Eristoff, which she picked up and examined curiously.

"Butterscotch I guess. I like butterscotch," she said with a shrug and sat down next to Bernadette on the aqua colored couch, seeing that the TV was on to play Dirty Dancing.

"So! How are you and Sheldon?" Bernadette cooed, grinning at Carly and nudging her with her elbow.

Carly blushed and gave her a small laugh. "We're fine. What about you and Howard? I heard he proposed, congratulations!"

Bernadette's smile vanished suddenly and Penny moved in with a glass for Carly, "Ooh, not a good time," Penny murmured to Carly, handing the glass over before sitting in her green arm chair next to Bernadette.

"No, it's all right," Bernadette waved to the girls after Carly was about to say sorry. "Thanks, Carly. Howard and I got into another argument tonight. He thinks that when we get married we are going to live with his mother."

Penny bit her lip and shook her head, taking a swig of the Eristoff bottle. Carly frowned, "Oh my. And I am guessing you don't want to live with her?"

Bernadette shook her head hastily, "No. As a married couple, I expected things to change and to start our lives together in our own home. But I guess things aren't going to change after all."

"Oh you never know, Howard is a good guy. And he loves you with all his heart. I am sure he will make the right decision," Carly told her with a nod before taking a drink of her liquor. It tasted exactly like butterscotch and she smiled at the warmth that pushed through her whole body.

"I agree," Penny said followed by a sniff, her nose apparently running from the warmth the liquor gave her. "Somehow, your cuteness settled down the strange and creepy Howard Wolowitz."

Bernadette smiled appreciatively, "Thanks you guys." She took a drink of her own glass as Penny continued.

"I mean look at Sheldon and Carly. We didn't even know Sheldon had genitals and now he is thinking with them."

Carly blushed fiercely at the mention of her boyfriend's genitals and took another drink. She wouldn't exactly say he was thinking with them, but she agreed that Sheldon had taken a turn once meeting her.

"All right! Enough of boy drama! Let's play some liquor games!" Penny suddenly announced with a kick of her leg.

oO0Oo

Sheldon stared at his apartment door anxiously as he sat in his spot on the couch. Music was now blaring loudly from the apartment across the hall and he was worrying about his girlfriend.

Leonard noticed this and sat down with his glass of diet coke, giving the door a glance. "Sheldon, she will be fine. Penny isn't that bad with alcohol." But as he said it, he realized that he was just lying to himself. Penny was that bad with alcohol.

Sheldon glowered at Leonard. "That bad?—Leonard, she fed me alcohol until I took my pants off in front of a lot of people and then exposed my bottom - which ended up being video taped and posted to youtube."

Leonard sulked with defeat and looked down at his glass, watching the carbonation bubbles pop. "Yeah okay, you're right. But still, they will be fine. They're right across the hall."

"They? I don't care about Bernadette and Penny, all I care about is the fact that they turn my girlfriend into an alcoholic!" Sheldon exclaimed, pouting in his seat with another glare towards the door.

Howard and Raj then entered the apartment, glancing behind them at Penny's apartment door with pizza in their hands. "Hey guys, we brought pizza," Howard said, his voice a bit down from the argument he had with his girlfriend earlier that day.

Raj frowned to himself and closed the door behind them. "Are they having a party without us?"

Leonard rolled his eyes. "It's a girl's night Raj."

"Oh," Raj said, shrugging and going over to the couch with Howard as they started handing out pizza.

oO0Oo

"Yes! Drink up!" Penny cheered, pointing to Bernadette. They were playing beer pong with candle jars and a rolled up peice of paper. Bernadette laughed, too intoxicated to care about competing at the moment and took a large swig of the drink.

The game went on until Penny won and she threw her hands up in victory. Falling onto the couch breathless, the girls giggled at each other. "Hey," Penny suddenly spoke up. "We should go out dancing one night. We could bring the guys too, if you wanted."

Carly tilted her head and grinned. "I don't think Sheldon would dance."

Penny rolled her eyes. "We could get him drunk. That always works."

Carly might have been drunk as well, but she had a mind to know that Sheldon would be mad if that was to happen again to him. She shrugged noncommittally. "Maybe."

oO0Oo

Sheldon tried to focus on Battlestar Galactica but he kept hearing pounds on the floor or wall and then loud laughter. His eyes found their way back to the door in slight panic. "What on earth and in all it's universes is going on over there to cause that much of a ruckus?"

Howard raised his eyebrows, the other guys now looking towards the door too with interest. "I am not sure, but I hope it's not PG."

Sheldon glared at him sharply and Leonard sighed. "They sound like they're having fun."

"Should we go check on them, just in case?" Raj asked, sounding a little eager to do so.

Leonard shook his head, being the reasonable one - despite the very sexual thoughts going through his own head. "No, if they need us, they'll let us know."

"What if they pass out and hit their head on a hard object and then come to consciousness for a split second but we can't hear them call out because of the loud music?" Sheldon asked, looking at Leonard for a good answer.

Leonard exhaled in annoyance, "Sheldon. They are going to be fine. I have told you that for—"

Suddenly the door was swung open and Carly stood there, her hair a mess and her eyes were intent on Sheldon.

"Carly?" Sheldon asked while standing, worried there was something wrong and that his suspicions were true.

"Sheldon, we need to go to the bedroom," she said loudly, hearing Penny and Bernadette giggle madly from the door way of Penny's apartment. They had dared her to do this and was far too gone to think about what she truly was doing. Her rational mind had flown out the window.

"Why?" Sheldon asked, stunned by her appearance and her words. He hurried over to her, checking her over. "Did you hurt yourself somewhere that no one else needs to see?"

Carly shook her head, "No. I want to kiss you and you said we can only do that in private, now let's go!" she said, grabbing his hand and tugging him towards the bedroom.

The guys' eyes were wide as they watched and were trying hard not to laugh at Sheldon's horrified face.

"Carly! No one goes into my bedroom!" Sheldon said, forcing them to stop walking abruptly, causing Carly to fall into him. He caught her and held her at arm's length.

"Then I will kiss you right here then," she said boldly with a smirk and leaned up to kiss him. He pulled away as fast as The Flash before she could press her lips against his.

"Carly, you have had way too much to drink," he replied seriously.

"Come on!" she said, ignoring him and began tugging at him again. This time, however, he let her. He was afraid she would do something very embarrassing in front of their friends.

She pushed him down on his bed and closed the door; his eyes were wide and full of concern as she rounded on him. "Sheldon… I want to kiss you," she murmured, walking over to him, swaying her hips a little. His eyes involuntarily looked down at them and he looked back up into her eyes with trepidation. His heart raced wildly in his chest.

"I know you do, but you need to sober up a bit first," he told her anyways, catching her hands as they traveled up his chest playfully. His heart jumped at the touch.

"Mmm, no I am fine," she said after pretending to think about it. She leaned in and sloppily pressed her lips against his and he kissed her back to humor her. If that was what she wanted then maybe she would stop after getting it.

But it wasn't stopping and she was now licking at his lips, attempting to pry open his closed mouth with her tongue. It was wet and warm and Sheldon's eyes snapped open immediately in alarm. He pushed her back with force, putting a few inches between them. He stared at her strangely.

"You taste like butterscotch," he pointed out.

Carly quirked an eyebrow and gave him a nod. "Well yes... that is the kind of liquor I drank. I like butterscotch, don't you?"

"Yes, but not as an aftertaste," Sheldon replied and then felt panic set in again as she attempted to kiss him again.

When he pushed her away again, Carly furrowed her eyebrows with confusion. "Do you want me to brush my teeth?"

"Yes," he said quickly.

"Sheldon," she suddenly whined. "Please."

Sheldon frowned at her. "Please what?" he asked in confusion. He wasn't aware that she was pleading for anything at the moment.

Carly's lips curved upwards at him and she stood up straight as he let go of her - no longer feeling threatened by her attacking lips. His eyes had no choice but to see her breasts that were no directly in front of his face and he snapped them upwards to her face, feeling his body betray him. She was staring down at him, eyeing his mouth with intensity and he swallowed nervously. His lips felt dry all of a sudden and he absently wet them with his tongue, watching her eyes darken to a deep color blue. He then felt her hands trail up his bare arms to his cotton covered shoulders.

Her gentle touch was warm gave him goosebumps across his skin. Momentarily, he forget that she was drunk. She pulled her bottom lip between her teeth and he suddenly had the strangest urge to pull her down to his level and kiss away her teeth hungrily. He bit harshly down on the side of his cheek, fighting the urge. But to no avail. She leaned down on him again, taking advantage of the moment of weakness on his part, and pressed a warm kiss to the side of his neck.

His eyes were wide and unmoving as her lips slid upwards across his neck to press them next to his ear. His toes curled inside of his shoes, pressing down onto the soles. His mouth opened of it's own accord, his insides hot and tingly. He wanted to tell her stop but another part of him didn't. He was conflicted until he felt her nip his earlobe lightly. He jumped in surprise and she giggled at him.

Placing a finger on his chin, she turned his head towards hers to press their foreheads together. Their eyes were now locked and at that moment, he thought he might just let her do whatever she chose to do with him.

Her pink lips brushed against his softly and his eyes slid closed at the contact. The kiss was closed mouthed, like he was used to, but his heart was racing fast in his chest with the idea of her tongue along his. She bit his lip lightly, making him gasp, and took the opportunity to weasel her tongue into his mouth.

His eyes flew open. His hands lifted to reach for her arms, hoping to push her away again at the new sensation. But his brain wasn't listening. Her warm tongue flicked at his, making all thoughts become incoherent in his mind. His eyes closed once more. The feeling that this foreign kiss was giving him was indescribable. His tongue warily moved on it's own, sliding along hers - almost playing with it.

And then he heard a soft moan erupt from her, vibrating into his mouth. Butterflies swarmed his belly at the sound and he found himself wanting to hear the sound again. His hands found her shoulders, but instead of pushing her away, they slid over to her back and pulled her closer to him.

Carly pressed herself against him, kissing him deeper with both of their mouths wide open and inviting. Her legs wound themselves around his hips, straddling him. How had they come to this?

Sheldon readjusted her on his lap, their lips finally breaking apart for air as he did so. Their eyes opened simultaneously and they breathed rapidly between them.

"Carly..." he mumbled. He didn't want this to stop, but he knew she was still drunk and that this was just too fast. He had never craved intimacy with another person this way before and he had a feeling that if they were to go further, he wouldn't be comfortable. "You're intoxicated," he said softly. "You don't know what you're doing."

Carly sighed, laying her head upon his shoulder lightly. She slumped against him. "I know... I'm sorry."

Sheldon wasn't sure what to say to her. He was shuddering underneath her warm body and his hands were holding her hips to him. He could feel her breath against his skin, making his head spin dizzily.

"C-Carly?" he began but he didn't hear her respond. Frowning, he gently rubbed her shoulder to get her attention. "Carly?"

He pulled her away from him slightly, seeing her sleeping face. Still not sure what to do, he sat there with her sleeping on him. His body was still reacting to her and she had passed out... Sheldon attempted to compose himself and gently lifted her into his arms slightly in order to lay her onto his bed. After adjusting her head upon his pillow, he stared down at her wordlessly. He had never seen someone so attractive before and the way she made him feel... it was completely insane. He wasn't sure if he liked it or not, because it almost made him lose control of himself. He always had control.

Sheldon heard a small knock on his door, breaking him from his thoughts and he turned to answer it. Leonard peered up at him with curious eyes behind his dark framed glasses.

"Everything okay?" Leonard asked him and Sheldon suddenly realized what was happening.

His eyes grew wide. "Leonard, Carly passed out in my bed. Do I wake her up and tell her to leave? Or do I carry her down to her apartment? Or do I just let her stay there?" He was panicking and he knew it.

Leonard eyed past him, seeing a glimpse of Carly's sleeping face. "She must have had a lot to drink tonight," he commented idely. "Um, well I suppose you could let her sleep here. She looks pretty peaceful."

Sheldon scoffed, not liking that answer. "Then where am I supposed to sleep?"

Leonard chuckled with amusement and gave Sheldon a pat to the shoulder. "Here's an idea, sleep with her."

Sheldon gaped at his roommate. "I can't -"

"Sheldon," Leonard cut him off, suddenly looking serious. "She's your girlfriend. It's really not a big deal."

Sheldon gulped, trying to convince himself that it wasn't a big deal. "Um... okay," he said noncommittally and gave Leonard a small nod.

Leonard smirked. "Well, I'm heading off to bed. Everyone's gone home."

Sheldon nodded in understanding and was then left to his own devices as Leonard entered his own bedroom. Turning back around into his, Sheldon looked at Carly one more time before huffing out. This was why he didn't get involved with women. They always seemed to interrupt his life and routines.

Quietly, he shed his clothing and put on his Monday night pajamas before walking over to the bed. Eyeing it, trying to figure out a way to get into the bed without waking Carly. He turned the lights off to stall and then huffed. He carefully grabbed the blankets underneath her and maneuvered her body under his blankets before shifting her to the side a little. He glanced at her face a few times, making sure she was still asleep and then slid himself into the bed next to her.

Biting the inside of his cheek, and feeling very uncomfortable in his own bed for the first time, he stared up at the ceiling blankly - slowly processing what had happened that night. In the midst of this, he suddenly felt Carly shift in her sleep and curl up beside him. He glanced over at her, seeing her eyes still closed. Her pink lips were still a bit swollen from their passionate kisses and he blushed at the thought. Slowly, he slid his eyes closed - willing himself to forget and go to sleep.

But to no avail. And Carly wasn't helping.

Not only was the warmth of her body right next to his side, she had slid her arm over his waist and held him to her. At first, it had him panicked, but for some reason that he still couldn't figure out, he felt himself slowly relax enough to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please comment!


	7. Chapter 7: Costumes?

Chapter 7: Costumes?

Knock, knock, knock "Penny."

Knock, knock, knock "Penny."

Knock, knock, knock "Penny."

The blond swung open the door, looking a right mess from just getting up out of her bed. "Sheldon, it's like the middle of the night!" she complained, grabbing her forehead.

Sheldon blinked in confusion, still wearing his dark blue plaid bathrobe. "It's six o'clock."

Groaning, Penny tried again. "What do you want Sheldon?"

"I have a bone to pick with you," he told her, crossing his arms over his chest - attempting to be intimidating. "You got Carly drunk as a skunk and changed her. She did all sorts of embarrassing things last night and it's all your fault."

Penny rolled her eyes. "It's only embarrassing to you because you're a weirdo."

Sheldon gaped. "I take offense to that statement. And plus, it's embarrassing to Carly as well. She ended up sleeping in my bed all night."

Penny paused in her irritation with him for waking her up and blinked at him with a growing smile. "And that's a bad thing? If anything you should be thanking me. You finally got a girl in your bed."

Sheldon glowered down at the blond. "That's not the point, Penny. You know how uncomfortable that sort of thing makes me. I told you not to get her that drunk and you did it anyways."

Penny sighed and ran a hand through her hair. "Okay, look Sheldon. Carly is a grown woman. She can drink as much as she wants."

"Not with you influencing her like you did," Sheldon protested and Penny groaned again.

"Goodbye Sheldon," she stated while shutting the door in his face.

oO0Oo

Carly opened her eyes, feeling warm and content under blankets. She blinked, not recognizing any of the interior of the room. She sat up, rubbing her eyes to adjust them to the morning light. She looked around. Right. The sight of many boxes of comic books jogged her memory and the events from the night before came flooding back to her.

"Oh no," she murmured as her cheeks lightened from embarrassment. She chanced a glance over to the other side of the bed, but Sheldon was no longer there. His side of the bed was made up as well as he could, apparently trying to make it neat without waking her.

She smiled a little. Despite the embarrassment, Carly had to admit she wasn't against spending the night with him.

She heard voices and so she climbed out of the bed, quickly making her part of the bed up before turning on her heel towards the door. She stopped abruptly, feeling nauseated. She lowered over and grabbed her knees, willing the sudden spin to her stomach to stop. She had drank a lot at Penny's and she was a fool if she had thought she could get away from a hangover. Thankfully her head didn't hurt too bad.

Stomach in one piece, she straightened up and exited the bedroom. The apartment was a little chilly so she crossed her arms over her chest as she entered the main living room area. She spotted Sheldon sitting in his spot on the couch, eating a bowl of oatmeal and watching television. He was wearing his bathrobe. She felt a little flutter in her chest at seeing him.

Leonard saw her entered and smirked into his coffee mug, wearing his red bathrobe. "Good morning, Carly."

Carly heard the suggestive implication in his voice and visibly blushed, glancing down as she stepped off the small stair to walk towards him. "Morning," she replied bashfully. "Do you mind if I have some? I am hoping it will stop my belly from feeling like it's going to empty itself at any moment."

Leonard chuckled and gestured to the coffee pot behind him. "Sure, of course."

"You're sick?!" Sheldon asked loudly, his voice holding deep concern. Either for her or himself. The reason was unclear.

Carly looked over at him, willing herself not to blush again. "Um, no. I'm just a bit nauseated from how much I drank last night," she told him, pouring coffee into an orange mug.

Sheldon made an "O" with his mouth in understanding. Leonard smiled at Carly as she stood beside him.

"Don't worry. It'll pass soon," he told her and she smiled in return. She glanced back at Sheldon then, taking a drink of coffee. She felt Leonard's eyes on her suddenly and she hesitantly met his. He looked down with an uncontrollable smirk before moving his glasses up his nose. "So you spent the night, hunh?"

Carly unfortunately blushed again, trying not to chose on her coffee. "Um, yes."

Sheldon took that opportunity to intervene. "Yes she did. However, that doesn't make it okay to harass or embarrass my girlfriend. You let Penny spend the night in here for more than one occasion and before that, it was Priya. And before that, it was Penny -"

"Yes Sheldon. I know you I let spend the night with me," Leonard stated flatly, rolling his eyes before looking back over at Carly. "I'll leave you two alone. I need to go get ready for work."

Carly nodded and watched him leave before frowning to herself, realizing what he had just said. She looked over at the digital clock on their stove. "Six-thirty? You guys get up this early to go to work?" she asked Sheldon curiously. In all honesty, she was trying not to let the awkward morning after moment get to her.

Sheldon got up and came into the kitchenette to wash his bowl out in the sink.

"Yes," he said with a small nod. "Every day since I've lived here, I have gotten up at six-fifteen and ate breakfast while watching Dr. Who," Sheldon explained.

Carly turned to look at him, holding the mug in her hands tightly. "Um, thanks Sheldon. For letting me spend the night. It was nice of you," she told him, attempting to force a smile.

Sheldon shut the water off then spun around to look down at her. "No problem. I can admit that your extra warmth was a nice addition to my sleep."

Carly felt her heart jump at his words. "R-really?"

Sheldon thought for a moment before giving her a nod. "Really. And you don't snore, so you've also got that going for you." He then continued his way out of the kitchenette but was caught on the arm by Carly.

He turned to look down at her questioningly, seeing her small smile. "Could I kiss you?"

Sheldon bit the inside of his cheek, his eyes lowering to her pink lips in confliction. "After we brush our teeth," he concluded and she let go of his arm with a pout.

"Okay," she said with a little dejection. "Well, I will let you get ready for work. I'm going to go down and take a long shower in my apartment."

Sheldon turned to face her fully. "Okay," he stated, his voice a little hesitant and she saw different thoughts flash through his eyes.

"What?" she asked him, tilting her head.

Sheldon attempted to become nonchalant and shrugged. "I'm just thinking that I didn't object to what happened last night. However next time, I'd prefer it if you were sober."

Carly blushed once more and bit her lip to stop a grin. "I enjoyed last night too. And I promise to be more careful with the alcohol next time I hang out with Penny."

Sheldon still look a bit uneasy about it, but nodded before giving her a small smile. She lifted up onto her toes to kiss him on the cheek. "I'll see you later, okay? Have a good day at work."

Sheldon nodded, feeling tingles on his cheek from where her lips had been. He wished they had already brushed their teeth so he could have kissed her properly, but hygiene always came first. He watched her smile and placed her coffee mug in the sink before heading towards the door and leaving behind it.

oO0Oo

Carly sat on Penny's bed, watching the blond go through her closet and throw random outfits out onto the floor. Carly stared down at them in thought, playing with the hem of her purple knee length dress. "I dunno, Penny. Are we really going to do this?"

Penny sighed, turning around and crossing her arms. "I know. It's completely ridiculous."

"I'll say," Bernadette stated as she sulked in a chair against the wall.

"Well, it's our own fault. We chose to date this type of guy," Penny said with a roll of her eyes, leaning on one hip.

"That's true. We knew what we were getting into," Bernadette replied, sighing and leaning back in her chair while crossing her ankles.

"But costumes?" Carly asked with a small grimace. The last time she had worn a costume had been ten years ago and it had been Halloween.

Penny sat down onto her bed next to Carly. and attempted a smile. "It's just for four days. Maybe it will be fun?" She was trying to lighten their spirits.

"We have to wear costumes," Bernadette repeated, sounding just as put out as Carly.

Penny groaned. "Yeah I know. I had to dress up with them before when we all went to a New Year's Eve Party at the comic book store."

"Why did you have to wear costumes to a New Years Eve party?" Carly asked in confusion.

Penny huffed. "There was a costume contest and my kinda sorta boyfriend wanted to go with the guys."

Bernadette grinned. "Who did you have to dress up as?"

Penny glared at the small woman. "Wonder Woman. It was the worst costume I have ever worn in my life. And I have worn a lot of slutty costumes."

They all sighed simultaneously, thinking hard about if they really wanted to go through with this or not.

Carly bit her lip and shrugged. "We might as well go. We've already told them we are coming and they are all excited about it. We wouldn't want to let them down."

Penny nodded in defeat, before standing up and going back over to her closet.

"What costumes should we even dress up as?" Bernadette asked, glancing between Carly and Penny. She had no idea what kinds of female superheroes there were.

Penny shrugged. "Go get my laptop. We'll think of something."

Bernadette nodded and stood, sighing to herself as she walked out of the room.

"Comic Con better be as exciting as they all say it is," Penny commented suddenly and Carly chuckled.

"You mean you hope there is alcohol."

"Yep!" Penny said brightly with hope.

"I had to take four days off of work for this," Carly told her.

"So did I sister. And let's hope I have enough money to pay rent this month." Penny said, grabbing a handful of her clothing to throw into her suitcase.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please comment!


	8. Chapter 8: Comic Con

Chapter 8: Comic Con

Carly followed Sheldon to their hotel room. Everyone, especially Carly, had been shocked that he had chosen to share a room with Carly. Although he asked for two separate beds. Carly couldn't complain though. Ever since they had spent that one night together, she had hoped to be able to do it again.

Opening the door, Sheldon led her inside and she did feel excited about the weekend. Perhaps this wasn't going to be such a drag after all. The flight from Pasadena to Philadelphia had been long and miserable, turning her spirits for the worst, but she was thankful that they were finally there and could spend some time together.

"This is my bed," Sheldon declared, setting his suitcase down onto the bed closest to the door.

"Okie dokie," Carly replied with a smile and walked over to the other bed, swinging her suitcase up onto it. She unzipped her bag and began unpacking when Sheldon walking around the room in concentration caught her attention.

"What are you doing?" she asked him curiously.

Sheldon turned to look at her. "Do you see the thermostat?"

Carly tried not to laugh and looked around, before spotting it hidden behind the curtain of the window. "Right there," she said as she pointed to it. He then zoomed over to adjust it. She didn't even want to know why it was so serious because he would probably go into a long explanation -"

"In case you wondering, the thermostat should stay at a prompt seventy-two degrees. And since we are sharing a hotel room, we should put down some regulations," he said and Carly blinked before sitting down onto her bed to give him her full attention.

"Okay."

Sheldon let a small pleased smile appear on his face before he composed himself in order to tell her his schedule and what hers should be to coincide. Carly seemed to be the only person he knew that never acted like he was a nuisance. He knew that this weekend would turn out to be great. And plus, his costume was the best.

oO0Oo

"God, I am so glad that I don't have to share a room with Sheldon," Leonard said in his Batman costume, waiting down in the hotel lobby with everyone except the girls - pointedly ignoring all the stares they were being given by the other guests of the hotel.

Sheldon, dressed as Spock, glared at Leonard. "Me too," he replied wistfully. "I don't have to worry about you changing the thermostat or clogging up the toilet when you "accidentally" eat gold fish crackers."

Leonard glowered up at his roommate. "That really was an accident and I wish you would stop bringing it up!"

Sheldon shrugged, unruffled by Leonard's hostility and adjusted his pointed Vulcan ear. "I was only saying."

Howard rolled his eyes, pulling up his green lantern glove. "I wonder what the girls are dressed up as. Bernadette never told me... no matter how much I begged," he muttered the last part, attempting to change the subject.

"Penny didn't say either," Leonard said thoughtfully. "Although I am hoping she wears that Wonder Woman costume again, that was pretty hot."

Sheldon rolled his eyes and Raj walked over from the using the vending machine to buy a water. He grinned to himself as he wore his Hulk costume. "I am so glad I chose to wear this, it makes me feel stronger," he mused, before his eyes almost bugged out of his head at the direction behind the guys.

"Hey boys," Penny said suggestively and the guys turned around to look at her, Carly, and Bernadette as they stood on either side of them.

Penny was dressed as Catwoman, a black spandex jumper that hung to every curve on her body, with knee high black boots. Her hair was down underneath a black mask and she was smirking at Leonard who was visibly sweating in front of her.

Howard swallowed loudly as he stared at his fiancee, wearing a Star Sapphire outfit. It was a long sleeved pink leotard looking piece of clothing, with a little white star over her hips. She looked very uncomfortable and she shifted in her thigh high pink boots. The top of her face was covered with a pink mask that ran up over her head into a crown that had a white star embroidered upon it. She wore her glasses over the top of it, smiling up at Howard when she saw his expression.

But Sheldon wasn't looking at either of the women. His eyes were firmly intent on Carly who had her brown hair up in a high ponytail and was wearing a famiilar short red dress that could only belong to Uhura off of Star Trek. She wore knee length black boots over her bare legs and she was biting her lip as she watched Sheldon's reaction carefully.

In all honesty, Carly had absolutely no suspicion on how Sheldon would take her costume upon seeing it. She had never worn something so skin revealing in front of him before. He stood there with his mouth agape and Carly hoped that it was a sign that he approved. He didn't say anything though and her cheeks flushed when his eyes slowly dropped down her frame then back up, thoroughly assessing her attire.

Carly cleared her throat and found her voice, as the others began talking about their outfits. "Do you like it?" she asked Sheldon, taking a step towards him.

Sheldon widened his eyes when she advanced and took a step back from her. She frowned at him. "Is there something wrong?" she asked worriedly, taking another step towards him. He attempted to move backwards again, but she shot her hand out to catch his.

"You're Uhura," he stated dumbly, his voice a bit scratchy.

Carly smiled hopefully at his words and nodded. "Penny told me you were going as Spock so she thought that I should be Uhura... because you know, Spock and Uhura have some kind of thing going on..." she mumbled, feeling uncomfortable as his eyes changed from surprise to that little glow he was about to say something contradictory.

"That was only on the new movie," he told her. "Spock would have never kissed her in the series."

Carly slumped a little at his words, letting his hand go. "So you don't like it," she murmured.

Sheldon crossed his arms over his blue shirt. "I never said that, I was just pointing that fact out."

Carly nodded dejectedly and nodded. "Fine."

Sheldon stopped upon realizing that there was something wrong with her all of a sudden. "Are you all right?"

Carly looked up at him for a moment before shaking her head. "I just thought you would have given me a better reaction to my costume than telling me that it's not correct." She crossed her arms over her chest, beginning to feel completely silly standing there in a Star Trek costume.

"Hey guys, come on!" Leonard called over his shoulder, interrupting Carly and Sheldon. They were all heading out the door.

Carly huffed lightly, feeling a little weight on her chest as she glanced up at her boyfriend. "Let's just go," she said and left him standing there.

Sheldon frowned in incomprehension, but followed her out.

oO0Oo

Everyone had noticed that Carly was not communicating with Sheldon. Penny, in particular, wanted to know why. When they had arrived at Comic Con and all began to enjoy themselves, the couple were standing far away from each other. She had seen the face Sheldon had made when he had seen Carly in her costume and had thought for sure that it had been a good sign. The only thing she could come up with, was that he opened his big mouth and hurt Carly's feelings somehow.

Penny approached Carly, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the group. "Hey girl, I saw some free candy back there. Let's go rob them bitches." She winked at Leonard as he frowned, but suddenly caught on to her plan and gave her a smile.

As soon as the girls were out of eye shot, Penny rounded on the brunette. "All right. What did that weird asshole say to you?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest and looking at Carly sternly.

Carly looked down at her fumbling fingers before looking over at the stands uneasily. "Nothing... well, nothing too bad."

Penny snorted. "It's Sheldon. It couldn't have been good."

Carly sighed, threading her fingers together in front of her and looked at Penny. "He didn't say anything bad, honestly. It's more like what he didn't say. Or what I was hoping he'd say. He just found some reason to criticize my outfit because technically it's not correct. Uhura and Spock don't really get together - it's only thrown in the movie randomly..." She trailed off, feeling silly for getting so worked up over all of this. She knew how Sheldon was.

Penny gave her a sympathetic smile and reached over, squeezing her arm comfortingly. "Oh honey, he liked it. He's just being Sheldon."

Carly bit her bottom lip, not sure if she should believe such things. "You think he liked it?"

Penny nodded dramatically. "He was practically drooling. I saw him with my own eyes. Somehow, you put a testosterone level in him. Now come on, let's enjoy ourselves. We look ridiculous and we get free stuff." She gave the woman a grin which Carly returned. "And have fun with your boyfriend... er, whatever fun is with you guys," Penny added.

Carly couldn't help but laugh and she nodded. "Oh all right," she replied and they went off to grab candy before they returned to the guys.

Carly looked up at Sheldon who was picking through a stack of comic books on a free product table. She didn't want to disturb him, but she needed to get what was bothering her off her chest. And the fact that there was hope that Sheldon had thought she looked alluring her costume gave her a large amount of happiness. "Sheldon?"

He didn't look at her at first, carefully looking through the pile of comic books. She knew he had heard her, but she waited patiently until he looked up at her. He held a Batman comic book in his hands. "Carly."

Carly bit her lip anxiously before blurting it all out. "I just wanted to say that I am sorry I got upset with you over what you said about my costume. I know you weren't meaning to hurt my feelings, I was just being over sensitive. And... well, I'm sorry," she told him.

Sheldon thought for a moment. "You thought I was trying to hurt your feelings, when I said that?" he asked her, almost looking aghast at the thought.

Carly blushed, wishing her hair was down to hide the pink color. However, before she could defend herself, they were pushed out of the way by a large group of people trying to get to the free table. Sheldon took her hand quickly, pulling her out of the way where they could speak in peace without the fear of getting run over or punched... and to get away from all those germs and screaming idiots.

Carly glanced down at their hands happily before he let go, leaving her hand cold. "Carly, I never wanted to hurt your feelings."

Carly shifted uncomfortably under his gaze. "I know that Sheldon. I was just expecting a different reaction. But like I said, I was just unnecessarily overly sensitive."

Sheldon blinked down at her. "What sort of reaction were you hoping for?"

Carly really did blush hard this time. "Um, it doesn't matter."

Sheldon pointedly looked at her though. "No, I want to know."

Carly huffed and shifted on her feet again. "Well... I guess I was hoping you'd say I looked nice."

Sheldon eyed her appearance again and she felt her breathing quicken at the intense appraisal. "Very well. You look nice, Carly."

Her heart fluttered at the words and she smiled appreciatively up at him. "Thank you." She raised up on her toes to kiss his cheek, but he stopped her immediately.

"There is a whole lot of people here. You can show your affection for me later on in the hotel room," Sheldon explained to her fallen face.

Carly's eyes lit up brightly and she couldn't help but take the opportunity. "I will look forward to that," she teased and his eyes widened as his jaw dropped, apparently realizing what she had been implying.

"I - well I didn't mean that - I just -" he spluttered and she smirked up at him playfully.

"Hey guys!" Some kids appeared at their sides with cameras. "Can we get a picture with you two?" Sheldon was then relieved from the embarrassing moment of loss for words.

He raised an eyebrow at the kids, about to refuse but Carly took his hand and gave the kids a grin. "Sure! We'd love to."

"We would?" Sheldon asked, looking down at her in alarm.

Carly nodded up at him. "Why not? They think we're Spock and Uhura, right?"

Sheldon thought for a second before grinning to himself. "You're right," he said happily, as he loved to pretend to be Spock. The kids cheered and gathered around them, as the parent of the group stood in front of them with a camera.

Sheldon scooted as close to Carly as he could, much to her joy, to avoid touching any of the kids. He threw up a Star Trek hand gesture and Carly followed after seeing Sheldon's. Soon, the picture was taken and the kids were running away while shouting their thanks.

Carly grinned up at her boyfriend. "That wasn't so bad."

Sheldon shrugged noncommittally. "They could do with a bath, but that was indeed amusing."

Carly rolled her eyes but she was now quite happy that they could spend the rest of their day together... and hopefully that night as well.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading! Please review!


	9. Chapter 9: The "Nasty"?

Carly followed Sheldon silently into their hotel room, after having dinner with the others down at a lovely restaurant. She smiled fondly at the bags of all sorts of things in Sheldon's hands, and also the bags that he'd had her carry as well.

"Looks like you've bought enough today to last for three more days," she mused aloud, teasing him as she sat the bags onto his bed next to where he had dropped his.

"Oh, that's not true!" he told her happily, "Tomorrow there will be signings and autographs from the creators of the comic books!"

Carly rose her eyebrows and sat down onto her bed, kicking her shoes off from her sore feet from walking around all day. She watched him begin to go through all of his things. "That sounds like a lot of fun," she told him, not completely meaning it. "Penny and Bernadette are going to a spa tomorrow. Would you mind if I tagged along with them?"

He stood up straight suddenly and gave her a confused look. "And miss out on meeting all the people who made Batman who he is today? Or the Avengers? Or be able to ask why they chose Xavier as Professor X's last name in order to make the X-Men?" he asked her, clearly taken aback by the fact that she would rather miss out on it. He then thought about it and shrugged. "But if you would rather go to a lame old spa, then who I am to stop you?" He turned back to his stuff.

Carly rolled her eyes and lay back onto the bed, careful to keep her legs closed as she was still wearing a very short dress. "Thanks," she said with a sigh.

"Oooh! Look! I now own an Aquaman bobble head!" he told her excitedly, holding the small figurine up and making the head bob goofily.

Carly couldn't help but laugh and watch him get excited about his new things all over again. She was happy that he was having such a good time. Her eyes moved over him then, as he leaned over the bed to look inside his bags. His pants that he was wearing weren't baggy in the slightest and they hung to his derriere quite nicely. She bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. She wished that she could do something about her attraction, but it seemed so off limits with him.

It wouldn't hurt to at least try to get him to take notice of her in the way that she did him. They were in the enclosure of their hotel room, so if she wanted to try anything with him while they were alone on this trip, this was going to be her chance. She sat up and looked down at her dress, noticing that it had risen up a little from lying down. She didn't adjust it. She crossed her legs instead and moved a hand up to the end of her ponytail, playing with it.

"Sheldon?" she asked in what she hoped sounded like a casual manner. She watched him look at one more thing before glancing up at her quickly, but then - to her amusement - took another look.

"Yes?" he asked, forcing his eyes off of her exposed legs to look back down at his things with determination.

She held back a smirk at his reaction, as it made her feel a bit more confident. She just hoped that it continued or else she was going to have to either get a glass of alcohol or go without any intimacy. "We're alone in our hotel room now," she pointed out, still faking casualty.

Sheldon began stacking all of his new comic books he had bought that day into one neat pile. "Mhm."

Carly arched her back a little, her bust now significant to eyes... or at least she hoped. "And you told me earlier that I could show you affection when we were alone..." she told him, tilting her head and looking up at him through her eyelashes. "...in our hotel room."

His hands stilled and his eyes rose to stare straight ahead, his body freezing up at her words and implications. He visibly gulped and stood up straight, looking down at his shoes uneasily. "I did," he confessed with a nod.

Carly smiled at his bashful behavior. He wasn't telling her that it couldn't happen, so she felt even braver. Although, she realized she was going to have to come to him. She stood and walked over to him, watching his pretty eyes flash everywhere but at her nervously. She now stood in front of him and felt his arms through his long sleeved blue shirt. He hesitantly looked up at her, their eyes locking momentarily.

Her arms slid upwards until they were behind his neck and she smiled up at him. "I'd like to kiss you, Mr. Spock," she murmured and his eyes widened a little.

She watched him hesitate, before leaning down awkwardly and kissing her. She returned it gratefully, but he pulled away before she could deepen it. She grabbed the back of his head, running her fingers through his dark hair as she held his head still. Her lips pressed up against his tenderly, feeling how soft they were. The kiss deepened on its own and she was relieved that he was kissing her back with just as much fervor. Slowly, his mouth opened and she willingly slid her tongue past his lips at the invitation. She heard his breath intake as she experimentally licked at his tongue. However, it wasn't long before he began swirling his tongue along with hers.

Carly wasn't sure how long the kiss lasted for, but it had to come to an unfortunate end when they both parted to catch their breath. Their eyes were heavy lidded and they stared back at each other, processing the unfamiliar but pleasurable feelings the other gave the other.

"Carly," Sheldon whispered, licking his lips. "You are a vixen, you know that?" His eyes were saying many things to her, causing her brain to spin and her heart to flutter, before he pulled her in for another kiss. His arms wrapped around her body, holding her close to him. She was taken by surprise and her mouth opened in a gasp. He took the opportunity to slide his tongue into her mouth, curiously tasting her. She quickly regained focus and teased him back with her tongue, making him pull her nearer.

This time when they pulled apart, it was only for a second, as they backtracked to Carly's bed and fell down upon it. They kissed for a few more minutes before Sheldon broke the kiss to look down at her. His eyes were wide with fear but she ran her hands up his back comfortingly, before winding her fingers into his hair with a reassuring smile. He couldn't help but lean down and kiss her again. Carly concluded that it had to be the sweetest kiss she had ever experienced with him. But it soon returned to intensity as their tongues found each other once more.

Her hand found itself under his shirt and Sheldon shivered into the kiss, her hands cold on his bare flesh. He couldn't think any other word except 'more'. He needed more of her and the way she was sending shudders down his spine by drawing shapeless patterns on his back, was making him just about lose whatever control he had over his body or hormones.

He wasn't sure where any of this was going to go but he surprised himself with not really caring.

Carly's hips pressed against his absently and Sheldon's heart jumped before beating erratically in his chest and ears. He kissed her with as much passion as his body contained, having the urge to touch her but not exactly knowing where. She was touching his back and making him so good that he wanted to return the favor, but she was laying on her back so he couldn't copy her. His thoughts apparently were being reflected into his kiss because she pulled away and furrowed her eyebrows.

"Are you okay?" she asked breathlessly, her chest moving up and down rapidly between them. He looked down at her apprehensively.

"I want to touch you, but I don't know where..." his own breathless voice trailed off uneasily. His ears turned red with shame but they were not visible under his Spock ears.

Carly took his hand and placed it nervously on her left breast. His eyes widened immensely and glued down to where his hand was. He had never touched a woman there before and he knew it was extremely inappropriate to do so. His eyes flashed up to hers with uncertainty, his fingers itching to remove themselves. She gave him a small reassuring smile before leaning up to kiss him softly. He swallowed and curiously gave her breast a small squeeze, not sure what to do with it now that he was touching it.

Sheldon rose his eyes hesitantly to her face and noticed that her eyes had changed. He quickly looked away shyly. She trailed her finger tips up his back softly and smiled when he pressed into her absently from shuddering. His eyes found hers again and she pulled him down with her other hand at his head to kiss him.

Sheldon kissed her back immediately, because that was what he had grown comfortable to do and they felt for each others tongues instantly. Her hand on his back was pressing into him, pulling him closer as he squeezed her breast a little more, earning a quiet moan of pleasure from her into his mouth. He did it again, feeling a little more comfortable now that he knew she was feeling good, and was happy when she moaned again. She shifted underneath him, pressing her hips up into his anxiously, making the most rejected part of his body harden from the contact of her touching him through their clothes.

His mind was spinning as she tugged on the ends of his hair gently. She removed her hand from his back, much to his slight disappointment, and took his hand from her breast. He tried pulling away from the kiss to ask her if there was something wrong, but she held him still with her other hand, refusing to let him break it. Meanwhile, she moved their locked hands to the bottom of her dress that had been pushed up from his legs to her waist. He hadn't realized that until his fingers touched her cotton panties, making his ears burn once more.

His hand jerked away, but she held it firmly and finally broke the kiss. Their foreheads were pressed against each other and they were breathing heavily. She then guided his hand up her dress, but then let it go, giving him permission to wander. She glanced down at his mouth as her hand returned to his back and he looked into her eyes with anxiety. But he wasn't going to allow it to stop him. His blood flow was already heading south and was making it hard for him to think rationally. He slid his hand up her abdomen and was pleasantly surprised to feel just how soft her skin was. Heart pounding in his ears, his hand reached up further where his finger tips stopped at her bra. She smiled reassuringly at him and leaned up to kiss the line of his jaw. His eyes closed and his hand felt for her breast, under her bra. Her nipple protruded between his fingers. He curiously moved his fingers across it, feeling it harden under his attentions. She moaned and he felt himself smile proudly. She continued to kiss him down his jaw to his neck, towards his collarbone. He pinched at her nipple suddenly and she jumped, making him jerk his hand away and his eyes to pop open.

He attempted to look down at her to ask if he had hurt her on accident, but she held him still, nipping at his earlobe. "Your hands feel so good on me, Sheldon," she purred into his ear, making his heart jump and the room become much hotter.

Sheldon placed his hand back on her breast, touching her nipple once more, but being extra gentle with it not cause her any discomfort. However, it was proving difficult to stay gentle with the fact that her mouth was caressing his neck in the most tantalizing way. She opened her mouth hotly onto his skin and sucked. He let out a soft moan into her ear, causing her to shiver against him. It was the most amazing feeling Sheldon had ever felt and it was really driving him insane.

He pulled away successfully this time, making her look up at him with a frown of confusion. "What's wrong?" she asked, her dark eyebrows furrowing, her cheeks flushing, and her lips swelling. His eyes left her face to see that her dress was almost pulled up to her breasts because of his arm and he felt as if he couldn't breathe. Her red cotton panties was the only piece of clothing that lay between them and her most sensitive area and that had him petrified.

But what scared him the most was the fact that he actually wanted to know what was underneath - well, not that he didn't know what was underneath, just that he wanted to see that part of Carly. "I want to see you," he blurted.

Carly looked down at her body, feeling very exposed but with him look at her the way that he was, she felt incredibly sexy for the first time in her life. She sat up, peering up at him nervously as she reached behind her back and pulled at the zipper of her dress. He watched her and his eyes fell dramatically when the fabric of her dress dropped to her waist. Her plain white bra covered her breasts that he had been touching and was teasing him with the sight of milky skin that lay beneath it.

Carly chewed at her bottom lip nervously. "Do you want me to take my bra off too?" she asked him, quietly.

Sheldon's eyes snapped up to hers, noticing that she was embarrassed. "if you don't want to, you don't have to..." he said, quickly becoming aware of his senses now that he realized what they were doing.

Carly thought for a moment, before getting to her knees and letting the dress fall to her legs. She then leaned over him, knowing that he was watching, and she kissed his neck hotly before lifting her lips to his ear and murmuring against it. "You do it."

Sheldon stared straight ahead, his mind beginning to spin again. He gulped but nodded, before reaching behind her with shaky hands to take the back of her bra between his fingers. He struggled to figure out the clasp on it and it became even more frustrating when he couldn't think straight with her lips on his neck again. She waited patiently as she could, apparently thoroughly enjoying herself as she assaulted his neck. He dropped his hands to her hips after unclasping her bra and she pulled away from him to grab the cups and hold the fabric to her body.

Carly's eyes were scared as well. But she wanted this. And she now knew that he wanted it too. She let the bra fall from her body, watching his eyes almost bug out at her now exposed breasts. She saw him freeze up and she threw her bra to the floor, before taking his hands and placing them onto her bare breasts. He glanced up at her and she took that moment to kiss him, letting his hands go to allow them to wander.

Their kiss deepened and her hands felt for his shoulders. His fingers squeezed her breasts, touching her nipples with his thumbs, making them harden. She moaned, sliding her hands down his chest to place them under his shirt. He shivered at her cold hands but continued to touch her, kiss her, taste her. She lifted his shirt suddenly, wanting to remove it and he let her, feeling that it was quite fair since she was topless.

He lay on top of her once more, falling to the bed with a deep kiss. Sheldon's hands kept to her breasts, unable to stop feeling her now that he had begun. She moved her own hands up his bare chest, her fingers running over his small amount of chest hair. Sheldon pulled away, glancing at her face before he dropped his head, pressing his lips to her neck. She pulled in for air and tilted her head, letting him have enough access to her skin. He tried to mimic what she had done to him earlier, opening his mouth on her neck and sucking. She moaned into his ear and he absently moaned in return, his hips pressing into hers on their own as his fingers pulled at her nipples. She arched her back into him as he did this, making him kiss her neck fervently, pulling her skin into his mouth and gently nipping at it. He was in no way in control of his body now, acting through pure instinct.

Carly inhaled, before letting out a small whimper when he pulled at her skin again with his teeth, her body letting him know that she was enjoying everything that he was doing to her. He grounded down onto her again, pressing his now very hard erection into her core, causing her to bite her bottom lip harshly at the sensation in order to keep from crying out. She needed him.

Knock, knock!

They halted their movements, both of their eyes popping open at the sound of someone knocking on their hotel room door. The only sound for a moment was their heavy breathing and the silent curse that was running through both of their heads.

Knock, knock, knock! The knocking got more harsh.

Sheldon groaned and pushed off of her, grabbing his Spock shirt in the speed of The Flash. Carly blushed darkly and pulled her dress up, not bothering with her bra. She reached back and zipped it up quickly, and looked up in time to see that Sheldon had been watching her do so.

Knock, knock! "Hey, guys? You awake?" Raj's voice called through the door.

Sheldon narrowed his eyes at the door, and after making sure his girlfriend was now fully dressed, he headed for the door. "If we had been asleep, we sure aren't now," he muttered, making Carly giggle and get off of the bed.

Sheldon pulled open the door, glowering at the man from Asia. "What?" he just about snapped.

Raj widened his eyes at his tone. "I'm sorry. Leonard is in my bed because he and Penny got into a fight. Can I sleep over here?"

"Couldn't you have just asked for a separate cot?" Sheldon asked incredulously.

Raj huffed. "No, the front register is closed. I already tried and Leonard won't let me sleep with him. And I definitely can't sleep with Penny," he said, becoming very anxious over just the thought.

Sheldon rolled his eyes. "Well why didn't you go ask Howard and Bernadette then?"

Raj sighed. "Because they only have one bed. You guys have an extra bed."

Sheldon shook his head. "No we don't. Both beds are full."

Raj stared at him. "Why can't you two sleep in the same bed?"

Sheldon felt a rise of panic at the question and Carly stepped in beside him. "Sheldon, why don't we let him stay the night? We slept in the same bed once before, remember?"

Sheldon looked down into her smiling face. But he saw the suggestive look in her eyes and it didn't help that her lips were still swollen from all of their kissing. He grumbled but looked back over to Raj. "Fine," he said in defeat, throwing his hands up and backing into the room.

Raj grinned at Carly, following her in silently. Sheldon was grumpily pulling his things off of his bed and putting them back in the bags, before placing them on the table across the room. Carly bit her lip, feeling the same way but was sort of pleased that he was just as sexually frustrated as she was.

Sheldon then rounded on Raj. "There will be no sappy movies or drinking of alcohol in the hotel room either," he told him firmly with no room for discussion.

Raj put his hands up in surrender and sat down on the bed Sheldon had just cleared. "That's my bed," Sheldon stated but Carly touched his arm, making him look down at her.

"Sheldon, let's just let him sleep there tonight. Besides, my bed is much comfier," she told him in a quiet voice, giving him a discreet wink.

It dawned on him and he nodded. "You're right. Fine, Raj you will sleep there. But just for tonight."

Raj shrugged and pulled off of his shoes, before climbing into the bed and snuggling down with a smile on his face. Sheldon walked over to the mirror and pulled his ears off before taking a baby wipe that he had set out on the dresser to wipe off his dark eyebrows that he had drawn on himself.

Carly grabbed a nightgown and headed for the bathroom. "I'll be back," she said before disappearing behind the bathroom door.

Raj then took his chance to round on Sheldon. "You two were doing stuff, weren't you?" he asked, his eyebrows waggling at Sheldon with a grin.

Sheldon frowned, feeling his ears redden as he continued to wipe his face. "I don't know what you're talking about."

Raj rolled his eyes. "Sheldon, your hair is a mess and both of your lips are all puffy. Plus, your Spock shirt is on backwards."

Sheldon looked down at his shirt. "Drat," he muttered, before looking back up into the mirror, realizing his appearance was just as Raj had described. He flattened his hair down and saw Raj bounce with excitement of being right. "I would like it if you could please refrain yourself from making that squeaky noise with the bed."

Raj laughed. "Oh come off it, Sheldon. You two were doing the nasty," he said happily.

Sheldon spun around. "Excuse me! We were in no way doing 'the nasty'," he said, using quote fingers.

"Oh yeah? Then what were you doing?" Raj pressed with raised eyebrows.

Sheldon sighed. "If it were for you to know, then you would know Raj," he said, successfully wiping the brow off and began to change into his pajamas.

Carly returned to the room shortly after, her hair now down around her shoulders and there was no more make up on her face. Sheldon thought she looked even more alluring as he sat on the bed that they were about to share. Carly blushed at being stared at by both Sheldon and Raj, who was sitting up, uncomfortably watching her walk across the room. She sat her Star Trek dress down on the table, folded neatly, and walked over to the bed.

Sheldon looked up at her silently and she raised her eyebrows. "Well, scoot over," she laughed slightly and his ears turned red again. He awkwardly moved over in the bed and let her get under the covers.

"Goodnight Raj," Carly said with a grin and he nodded before he turned the lamp off, making the room completely dark. Carly rolled over and snuggled up to Sheldon's side, which she felt him stiffen but then relax when she moved her hand up to his hair to pet him softly.


	10. Chapter 10: The Consequences of Making Out

Sheldon had stared at his neck for fifteen minutes and he was still baffled at what he was seeing. Did he have some kind of rash? But it sort of looked like a bruise. Had he hurt himself somehow? No, he didn't remember hurting his neck of all places. Had he slept walk? Highly improbable considering he had never done so before, to his knowledge at least. He supposed he could ask Carly, just to be sure.

He held his towel around his waist tightly, his body still wet and dripping from the shower he'd had previously. Had Raj noticed? he wondered in a panic. No, he supposed that if he had, then he would have mentioned it the night before when he had been grilling him for details. Plus, it was around his collar bone and his shirt had hid it quite well.

Sheldon opened the bathroom door and poked his head out to look around the hotel room. Carly was sitting on the bed, bent over and sliding her shoes on. He hissed at her for her attention. She sat up at the noise, before looking over at him in question.

The fact that she slid her eyes down the exposed part of his body didn't go unnoticed by him. He pointedly ignored it, in favor of his panic. Sheldon waved her over with his hand hastily, and she stood while looking worried. She glanced over at the sleeping Rajesh before walking over to him.

"What's wrong?" she asked, her cheeks a little pink after glancing down at his bare chest again.

He quickly pointed to his neck to advert her attention. "Look! I think there might be something wrong with me," he told her urgently, pointing to the mark on his neck.

Carly eyed the mark carefully, before covering her mouth with widened eyes. It took a minute before he realized that she was stifling laughter. Glaring down at her, he muttered out in a whisper, "What?! I could be dying here and you're laughing?"

Carly giggled softly and removed her hand to push his finger out of the way, leaning closer to give the mark another look. "Sheldon, you're not dying."

Sheldon frowned to himself at her words before spinning on his heel to return to the mirror in the bathroom. She followed him inside. "Are you sure? It looks horrendous! You should take me to the hospital."

Carly couldn't but laugh this time and completely ignored the glare he gave her over his shoulder. She approached him swiftly and took his cheek into her hand. He stared down at her with fear evident in his eyes. "Sheldon, there's nothing wrong with you. It's just a hickey."

Sheldon stared at her blankly, the fear slowly fading from his eyes to look confused. He huffed when he didn't come to any conclusions as to what a hickey was. "What is that? Some kind of rash?"

Carly shook her head with a smile and leaned up to press a soft kiss to where the mark was, making him gulp and glance down at her. "It's from my kisses last night," she murmured against his skin and then pulled away, looking up at him with a smirk.

Sheldon stopped, his mind replaying the events from her kissing. He then remembered when she had sucked at his neck rather hotly. He shifted a little at the memory, his hold on his towel tight. His jaw dropped and she grinned proudly. He looked down at his feet with embarrassment, but then suddenly remembered. His hand shot out to move her hair from her neck anxiously, searching her skin with his eyes.

"You don't have one from me kissing you there though," he pointed out, feeling a little disappointed by that fact.

She moved away from him and looked into the mirror, raising her eyebrows at the unmarked skin of her neck. "No, I guess not. It's all right though. You could always try again later," she suggested with a shrug.

"Is this hickey thing normal?" Sheldon asked her and Carly turned around, looking up at him with a fond smile.

"It is. It happens when you suck at the skin a little hard. It's essentially a bruise. It's normally considered a mark of one's sexual relationship. Couples usually do it in order to prove that the other is "theirs"." She said, using quote fingers to explain.

Sheldon nodded with sudden understanding. He then took her off guard by taking her hand and pulling her towards him. She gasped at the feeling of his damp body against her. He smelled heavenly and she absently leaned into his embrace before he could even bend down to kiss her. Her hands lifted to hold onto his waist, returning the kiss happily. She could taste his minty toothpaste on his breath and on his tongue. When he broke the kiss, she was breathless, but became even more so when he peppered kisses along her jaw down to her neck where it met her collar bone.

As he opened his mouth along her skin, she knew exactly what he was attempting to do and she smiled as she pressed the side of her face against his bare shoulder. Despite being essentially naked, he felt warm against her cheek. His lips even more so. He sucked hard at her flesh, pulling and licking in order to successfully mark her.

As she was becoming a pile of goop, he pulled away from her and stepped away, eyeing his work. He then smirked to himself and she knew he had marked her this time. Blushing, she looked in the mirror to check and saw the deep purple bruise.

"There, now you have one too," he pointed out. She grinned saucily at him and he gently took her hand, tugging her towards the door. "I have to get dressed."

oO0Oo

Raj rubbed at his eyes with one hand and pushed the already opened bathroom door, needing to relieve himself after waking. However, he froze at the scene before him and slowly backed out of the room as quiet as possible. His mouth turned up into a smirk. He quickly grabbed his shoes and exited the hotel room, heading towards his own where he would tell Leonard all about what he had witnessed only after taking a wiz.

oO0Oo

Penny sighed heavily in content, the masseuse rubbing at her tense bare back. She closed her eyes and laid her head on her arms that were folded in front of her. "This is the life," she muttered lazily. Carly and Bernadette were in the same position on their own separate beds, enjoying the feeling of their muscles being massaged.

"I wholeheartedly agree," Bernadette breathed out happily.

Carly smiled to herself, feeling as if she could fall asleep at any moment. "Me too," she mumbled. She had never had a massage before and she was undeniably loved it. Much better than going to Comic Con again and waiting in never ending lines for hours to get an autograph from someone she didn't recognize.

"Stupid Leonard," Penny groaned to herself, loud enough for the other two women to hear. It was quickly followed by a moan of delight when the masseuse hit a tender spot she had been aching to have massaged.

Carly opened her eyes lazily, remembering suddenly that she had overheard Raj the night before. "Speaking of which, what exactly happened? Raj ended up sleeping in our hotel room last night because Leonard took over his bed."

Penny opened her eyes before closing them again, enjoying herself for a moment before replying. "Well, you both know how mine and Leonard's past is. And when we began dating again, we agreed to take it slow. That we didn't want to mess it up this time. But he just keeps pushing for more. Last night, he was trying to get fresh with me and I was too tired from following him around all day with all those nerds. He got sensitive like he always does and I got frustrated. I ended up getting out of bed and locking myself in the bathroom to calm down but when I came back out, he was gone."

"So you didn't want to have sex with him?" Bernadette questioned.

Penny shrugged the best she could while being massaged. "I don't know. I keep trying to put sex off. It's just, if we reach that level again, I feel like we'll be taking things fast and if we do that then it will mess up again. You know what I mean?"

"That's understandable," Carly said.

Penny opened one eye suddenly and eyed Carly before smirking. "Speaking of taking things slow, how was sleeping in the same bed with Sheldon again Carly?"

Her voice was teasing and Carly blushed through her smile. "It was nice. We cuddled this time," she replied happily.

Bernadette and Penny exchanged knowing smiles. "Is that it?" Bernadette asked.

Carly laughed. "Are you expecting me and Sheldon to do things in front of Raj?"

"That's true," Penny said. "With that hickey on your neck though, tell me you at least got to second base though."

Carly blushed and stayed silent for a too long of pause, which made the other girls laugh. "Oh my god, Sheldon Cooper got to second base?" Penny exclaimed in disbelief.

"No way!" Bernadette chimed in with a grin.

Carly bit her bottom lip to keep herself from grinning like a fool. "I gave him a hickey and he thought he was dying from some kind of disease," she explained to them.

The girls laughed at that and Penny shook her head. "Oh wow. You could have picked Raj, remember that."

Carly rolled her eyes at her friend and Bernadette laughed. "How on Earth would that have worked? Raj would have to be drunk all the time. At least with Sheldon, they can have a conversation."

"Okay that's true," Penny said.

Carly laughed at their antics. "Oh shush it. I like Sheldon just fine. He can be a bit silly sometimes, but that's why I like him."

Penny snorted in amusement. "I hope you can say that in a couple years," she teased. "No seriously though, I am happy for you guys."

"Me too," Bernadette agreed.

"I'm happy for you too, Bernadette," Carly said with a change of subject. "Have you made any plans for the wedding yet?"

Bernadette smiled. "Of course. But I'm going to need your guys help soon though. Howard doesn't help as much as he probably should and I don't want to go to either of our mothers."

"I've helped with a lot of my friends' weddings. I'd love to help with yours," Penny told her with a bright smile.

Carly nodded enthusiastically. "I haven't ever helped with a wedding before, but I will definitely help you too."

Bernadette beamed in appreciation. "Great!"

oO0Oo

Sheldon came into the hotel room that night in a foul mood. He only wanted to go to sleep and since Raj had returned to his own bed, after Penny and Leonard had made up that day, Sheldon had slept in his own bed. Carly was disappointed about not sharing a bed with him, but was very put off by his mood. She had attempted to kiss him, but he had moved out of the way just in time to climb into his bed.

Carly didn't want to cause problems when she assumed he hadn't had the best of days and didn't want to make it worse by attempting to make him talk about it. She had no choice but to sleep in her own bed alone and wonder what was going on with her boyfriend.


	11. Chapter 11: Home

Their last day was full and they had only a few hours before they were to board the plane back to California. So they were attempting to make the best of it. In their own way, of course. Penny had decided to take the girls to a last minute shopping spree at the local mall while they were on the East Coast and the guys were attending a panel at Comic Con.

Because of these contradicting plans, Carly did not have time to speak with Sheldon about why he had been bothered the night before. Although, by morning, he had kissed her like nothing had happened before parting ways.

Soon, they were packed and on the plane, heading back home. Despite not being comfortable on planes, Carly's seat alongside Sheldon, made him feel better - as it had during the flight to Pennsylvania. He held her hand tightly the whole entire time, but Carly found herself falling asleep anyways. Her head had fallen upon his shoulder absently and Sheldon attempted to redirect his attention from the flight to the movie that was being played for them all.

Sheldon sighed soon into, already becoming bored with the terrible movie and took his headphones off of his head. He glanced down at his sleeping girlfriend, cheek upon his shoulder. He couldn't help but smile a little with appreciation. She continued to amaze him with how comfortable he truly was with her. She even made him feel better about flying.

About anything, really.

He still couldn't fathom the fact that he had touched her without clothes on. And nothing terrible had happened. He wasn't particularly fond of getting the hickey, considering the teasing he was given the next day by his friends, but he had enjoyed himself nonetheless. They had truly taken their relationship to another level that on a rational level he wasn't completely comfortable with. But she had this allure that seemed to change his mind in a spur of a moment. Was this what it was like to be physically attracted to someone beyond reason?

He frowned, thinking about what he was doing with her. They were definitely experimenting with each other and getting closer than he had thought he would ever be with someone. What if the next time they were caught up in each other, that they ended up having coitus? How would he feel about that? And oh god... what would his mother think?

He was certain she'd be angry with him. Perhaps, he thought, if their relationship were to progress down the path that already seemed possible, he should speak with his mother soon. Maybe he'd be able to lessen the blow, as it were. However, he knew what she would say as she had been saying it from day one. Intercourse before wedlock was a deep sin in her ignorant eyes. But even though he had never had to worry about such a thing until now, he didn't believe in such ways. Would his mother understand like she had to a fault with all the other things her Christian beliefs disagreed with when it came to his lifestyle?

He didn't want to marry Carly just to appease his mother... or did he? Of course, he liked her more than anyone he had ever met before and was surprisingly sexually attracted to her in an unbelieving way. But did he love her? And could he marry her?

He hadn't even thought that it would come to that... but he supposed he needed to think things through a little more before continuing on.

After saying goodbye to Raj, Howard, and Bernadette, the last four were soon in their own apartments, shaking off the excitement that they had during the last four days. Leonard and Penny had said a rather long goodbye in the hallway that adjoined their apartments while Sheldon made a beeline for his bedroom.

Sheldon sighed happily to himself, truly relieved to be back inside the comforts of his own room, as if he had been tense and uncomfortable the whole time they'd been gone. He immediately began to unpack and neatly place his belongings away in their proper places, but was interrupted by Leonard appearing in his doorway.

"Hey Sheldon, I just wanted to say sorry for making those comments the other day. I didn't mean to make you mad," he told Sheldon, leaning against the door frame after Sheldon turned to look over at him.

Sheldon pursed his lips at the memory, wishing to forget about it all together. They had been awfully vulgar comments depicting his physical relationship with Carly. "No need to apologize. It was true, all the same."

Leonard raised his eyebrows behind his thick black glasses and shifted against the framework, regarding his roommate. "It is?"

Sheldon was beginning to feel uncomfortable, like it normally did when his personal self was being pried into. He nodded curtly. "Yes. Carly and I have had sexual encounters, but no, we have not engaged in coitus."

Leonard refrained from smirking; Raj had been right with his assumptions. "Well, either way Sheldon. I shouldn't have announced it like I did. It wasn't right for me to do."

Sheldon reluctantly nodded. "I agree. Please abstain from doing it again." He then returned back to his suitcase.

Leonard nodded back to him and pushed himself up to stand up straight. "I won't," Leonard said, but couldn't help smirk now that Sheldon's back was turned. "You hound dog you," he mumbled to himself in amusement and then disappeared down the hallway into his bedroom.

Sheldon heard him though, and turned to glare, but Leonard was already gone. But the conversation, no matter how uneasy it was, reminded him of an even worse conversation he needed to have. If things were going to progress with Carly and him, he would have to set some things straight with his mother.

oO0Oo

They had only been gone for four days, but it had felt like forever and going back into work was a drag. Carly had slept hard the night they had returned and she had wanted to sleep the day away as well. But she was unable to, with her shift beginning at eleven. Getting back in the swing of things could be difficult for her, but by five she was back, but ready to go home.

She was surprised, however, when an unexpected visitor appeared at the library.

"Sheldon? Why are you here?" she asked him, grinning up at him with a stack of books in her arms.

Sheldon couldn't help but look down at the books with disgust to her smiling face, making him smile a little in response. "Hi. Leonard's in the car with Penny," he told her with a gesture behind him with his thumb. "I asked him to bring Penny so she can drop your car off at a place that remains to not be spoken of, then Leonard's going to drop us off there. So you can drive us home, of course. I know it's kind of confusing, but I don't drive and I want to surprise you."

Carly stared at him for a moment, before his words caught up in her mind and she brightened at the sentiment. "Oh wow, a surprise! Um, let me go put these away and I'll be right back."

Sheldon nodded and then stood awkwardly in the middle of the library, waiting for her. She hurried to put away the books before grabbing her purse and telling her coworker she was leaving a few minutes early. Soon, she was in the backseat with Sheldon as Leonard drove and Penny was driving her car.

"So, it's a surprise?" Carly asked happily, giving her boyfriend at her side a wide grin.

Sheldon nodded. "Yes, and no. I won't tell you." He smirked down at her, his blue eyes twinkling.

Carly smirked but took his hand. Sheldon glanced down at their fingers and smiled fondly down at them before staring at the window. Carly looked up at Leonard's reflection in the overhead mirror. "Leonard, by chance do you have any idea where we are going?" she asked and heard Sheldon gasp with disbelief. She giggled.

Leonard glanced up at her and grinned. "Yes I do. And I would tell you but Sheldon threatened to become an extremely difficult roommate. He already is, but why risk it?"

Carly laughed and looked up at her boyfriend who smirked. "Sheldon."

He rolled his eyes. "You heard him. He would have told you if it wasn't for my threat."

Carly shook her head at her boyfriend's silliness, wondering what the surprise was.


	12. Chapter 12: Surprise

Sheldon had his hand over Carly's eyes, guiding her onto a train. He was almost exploding with excitement and she was complaining loudly about not being able to see.

"Okay," Sheldon suddenly said with pride, uncovering her eyes.

Carly opened her eyes immediately, and gasped at the sight before her. There was a table that was set up with a white table cloth and candles lit with food and platters.

"Oh my," she breathed, covering her mouth with her hand to avoid looking like a fish as she gaped. She looked up at Sheldon who stood next to her, suddenly looking nervous compared to the buzzing excitement a few short seconds prior.

"The table decorations were Penny's idea," Sheldon explained, gesturing for her to take a seat in the booth. Sheldon sat across from her and searched her face that was lit up with wonder and excitement.

"Sheldon, this is..." she stumbled with the word before speaking it, "romantic."

Sheldon bit the inside of his cheek and then answered. "Yeah you're right," he said with a slump in his seat. "I'll have them take all of this unnecessary stuff away. I told her you would have rather liked the -"

Carly shook her head hastily and took his hand, cutting him off. "No, don't. It's perfect."

He looked from their hands to her eyes, before feeling more comfortable. Plus, the train began to move. He felt his heart jump with anticipation. "I booked a room on the train for the night. And I had Penny pack a bag of your things... I hope you don't mind. I couldn't ask you to pack, because it was a surprise."

Carly shook her head with a smile. "No, I don't mind. So we get to spend the whole night on here? How exciting," she said and he grinned in response.

"I know, right!?" he said with gushing enthusiasm. "I have always wanted to spend the night on a train."

Carly beamed back at him as their waiter appeared. Sheldon released her hand and she dropped her hands to her lap. "Good evening, my name is Mark and I will be assisting you this evening. May I offer you a cold beverage?"

Sheldon spoke up first. "A diet coke for me please and a Dr. Pepper for the lady."

Carly blushed. "Sheldon, I think he meant wine."

Sheldon grimaced. "We don't like wine."

"I know, I'm just letting you know."

The waiter smiled patiently at them and nodded his head. "A diet coke and a Dr. Pepper, coming up. I hope you enjoy your meal."

Sheldon bounced in his seat with a grin, taking the lid off of a platter. "I ordered Italian for you, but I got Thai for myself."

Carly smiled adoringly at him. "Thank you Sheldon, this means a lot to me."

Sheldon shrugged with indifference. "I wanted to do something nice for you."

"Well you definitely succeeded Dr. Cooper," Carly grinned and he smiled up at her before they served their food onto their plates and the waiter returned with their sodas filled in wine glasses.

They ate in comfortable silence until Sheldon began explaining the train in multiple ways, as he was too excited to not share this moment with her. She listened as well as she could, as she ate, admiring his lips move more than actually listening to him.

Soon, they were given dessert. Sheldon ordered himself a chocolate pudding while he ordered Carly's favorite, strawberry ice cream. After a moment or two, Sheldon decided that this had to be the perfect time to tell her of his real intention of bringing her there.

He swallowed his last bite of pudding and looked up at her, suddenly feeling nervous. "I talked to my mother. As you are aware, she is an extremely religious woman," he began, causing her eyes to snap up to his in curiosity, which made his momentary confidence subside. But he forced it to return and he glanced down at his empty bowl. "It was a rather difficult conversation, but I think I made my point. She highly disapproves of sexual intercourse before marriage and-"

Carly choked on her ice cream, grabbing her napkin to wipe her mouth nervously. Sheldon stared at her, wondering if it was what he had been saying that had caused her to choke. Apparently, it was written al over his face because she smiled with embarrassment and asked him to continue.

He cleared his throat and shifted in his seat, his eyes looking everywhere but at her face. "Um, and because I informed her that we both were not ready for marriage just yet, but our sexual desires were progressing for each other, and of course I don't personally believe in what she believes - she has agreed to be all right with us having coitus as long as she has met you first. Although she asked us to refrain from speaking about our experiences together - apparently ignorance is bliss in this sort of situation, not that I can disagree with that," Sheldon babbled in practically one breath. He finally at Carly after he finished and was a little unsettled to see her gaping at him.

"Y-you asked your mother, if it would be all right if we had sex?" she asked him in disbelief.

Sheldon frowned at her question. "Well yes, of course. She deserves to know considering her son is contemplating on having intercourse before getting married. She would be heartbroken if I just did it without her knowing. I would be disregarding her feelings."

Carly had to take a moment to remember everything that Sheldon had ever told her about his mother. They had an extremely close relationship and she supposed that this had to be natural for him to speak with her over the matter. At least she was hoping so. She smiled to break the tension, reassuring him that it was all right. "Of course, Sheldon. Um, well, so she wants to meet me before we have... sex?" she asked, feeling extremely odd just saying it all aloud.

Sheldon nodded at her. "Yes. She will be here within a week. I'm positive she will like you."

Carly blushed at the nice compliment, but immediately began stressing over the fact she would be meeting his mother so soon. She chewed on her lip. "I'm sure I'll like her as well."

Sheldon smiled before taking a last drink from his diet coke, before sighing in content. That was all over with, thankfully. "I suppose I shall show you to our room for the night."

He scooted over in the booth before standing to his full height. She followed him with her eyes before standing as well. She had originally thought that perhaps they were to be consummating their relationship when he had told her about the room they would be sharing, however now that she knew she must meet his mother first, she felt a little disappointed. However, she was very pleased that he was in fact telling her that he was ready for intercourse with her, should the need arise.

It made her heart flutter with just the thought and she followed his grinning-self down the long hallways towards the bed chambers.

Sheldon opened a door to a room and led her inside. Her eyes lit up a the one bed, thanking her lucky stars that he had decided against two single beds like the hotel. "Oh Sheldon, this is great," she told him honestly.

He then began to ramble on about the train and the rooms. She smiled and sat upon the bed, glancing over at the small bag that Penny had apparently packed for her, before looking back up at Sheldon as he turned around from pointing out the small bathroom to the right.

"This has to be the best surprise ever," she told him, which made him stop and smile down at her.

"I know, right? Trains are so amazing."

She agreed, although she had been referring to the fact that she would be sharing a bed with her boyfriend on a train after having a romantic dinner. She stood from the bed and approached him. His eyes lowered to her face, watching her practically press herself up against him. She saw him swallow nervously and his eyes seemed to change on their own.

"Being with you on a train, is amazing," she corrected him, eyeing him with allure intent.

Sheldon bit the inside of his cheek at her words, sounding sultry upon her lips. His mind replayed back to the hotel room in Philadelphia and he almost began sweating at the thought of touching her again. But he refused to lose control. He had promised his mother and he was going to keep it. "Carly, we can't," he told her, taking a step away from her to give them distance. He found that he could breathe easier that way. "Not tonight. My mother has to meet you first."

Her face fell and he felt a little guilty about it, but he was a man of his word. Carly sighed and nodded with disappointment. "All right."

He watched her go to her bag and he decided to do the same, willing the arousal for her to go away.

Carly bit her lip hard at what she saw in her bag. She knew for a fact she did not own anything of such nature and suspected that Penny had snuck it in there with evil suggestions. She glanced over at Sheldon who was taking his bed clothes out of his own bag and suddenly had a naughty but exciting idea. Carly smirked to herself for a second before composing her face and standing with her whole bag.

"I'll be right back," she told him and then closed herself inside the tiny bathroom to take a closer look at the item. It was a short red and black laced, skin tight dress with matching black lace underwear. She laughed at the thought of her wearing lingerie, shaking her head at the thought of her best friend.

Carly took a deep breath before undressing, preparing herself to put it on. They might not be able to actually have sex, but that didn't mean they couldn't fool around right? If this didn't encourage him, then she didn't know what would.


End file.
